Minimalist News

Pennies Have Been Abandoned, Now What Will Be Done With Nickels? Authored by Adam Dick via RPI The United States government minted its final penny in November of 2025. This came after fiat money inflation succeeded in depriving pennies of nearly all their value . Pennies are still circulating, but it is increasingly common for stores to round cost totals to avoid giving pennies in change. Also, people seeing that the metal content of their pennies is worth more than the face value are deciding that it is better to store pennies in a jar than to spend them .

Medieval Diseases Have Returned To Los Angeles In what can only be described as a stunning failure of state and local policy and leadership, Los Angeles County recorded its highest tally of flea-borne typhus cases in 2025, confirming 220 diagnoses, up from 187 the year before , according to the county's Department of Public Health. Almost nine in ten of those patients ended up hospitalized. Fleas that feed on infected rats, opossums, and other small mammals carry the bacteria behind the disease to humans, and Los Angeles has watched the case count climb for years. The 2025 total marks the

US To Send Hospital Ship Next Year To Peru To Help With Impact Of El Nino Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times, The United States will send a military hospital ship to Peru’s Pacific coast next year to help the country cope with the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon. Plans to send the hospital ship USNS Comfort to the northern Pacific coast of Peru in February 2027 were confirmed by U.S. Ambassador to Peru Bernie Navarro on Aug. 19 during a press conference at Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami, Florida. Appearing alongside Peruvian Minister of Foreign

Bessent: Aim Is To 'Collapse' Iran Regime Through Economic Warfare, But US Unlikely To Restart Major Combat Summary US shifts toward economic warfare, away from military strikes: Bessent says maximum sanctions likely mean no major new military campaign for now. Regime change rhetoric persists: Bessent says Washington intends to "collapse" Iran's regime. USS George Washington arrives: A new US carrier is now operating in the Middle East, relieving the over-extended USS Lincoln. Iran rejects US threats as a Trump "diversion": Tehran calls the campaign "economic terrorism" and says Washington is seeking an exit. Axios claim of 'stealth corridor' where oil

Popular Ukrainian Official Raises Stakes Against Zelensky With Election Call: Democracy Held 'Hostage' Ukrainian President Zelensky is once again under immense internal pressure, amid new corruption investigations which run straight through the presidential office as well as growing calls to finally hold elections despite the ongoing war with Russia. Mykhailo Fedorov, the country's popular young former defense minister and a longtime political ally of Zelensky - who was dismissed just last month largely as a result of tensions between him and army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi - stunned Kiev's political establishment this week by issuing a video address urgently calling for

Ceuta Invaders Are Now Eating The Cats And Birds: Report Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Volunteer caregivers in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta report that cat colonies are vanishing, dead animals are turning up cut apart, and birds such as pigeons and seagulls are being found half-devoured in the weeks since tens of thousands of migrants poured across the border from Morocco. Nearly three weeks after the mass invasion, local reports describe cats displaced or missing, and carcasses discovered in disturbing conditions. Caregivers who have continued feeding the animals daily say the damage is already

Houthis Claim Fourth Attack On Saudi Aramco Refineries This Month Yemen's Houthis, or the Ansar Allah movement, released a statement Thursday announcing new military operations against Saudi Arabia which targeted an Aramco facility and an airport in Najran province, saying that forces "carried out two military operations using two drones." "The first targeted a sensitive target belonging to the Saudi enemy at Najran Airport, while the second targeted Aramco in Najran . Both operations successfully achieved their objectives, by God’s grace," the Houthi statement declared. LinkedIn/Reuters Najran is a mid-sized city of around 400,000 and is located in southwest Saudi

Ukraine Corruption Scandal Deepens: 'Operation Forrest Gump' Shocks Zelensky Government With More Searches Authored by Remix News Staff via Remix News , Ukrainian anti-corruption services launched searches under codename "Operation Forrest Gump," targeting, among others, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The move expands the ongoing anti-corruption investigation which has seen a number of top officials in Zelensky's cabinet flee to Israel shortly before police could raid their homes. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced they were conducting a special operation involving a criminal

Pennsylvania Dangles Permitting Carrot For Data Centers That Bring Their Own Power Submitted by Ethan Howland of UtilityDive Pennsylvania will give data center projects preferential permitting treatment if they commit to a set of power supply, environmental and cost-responsibility requirements under an executive order issued Tuesday by Gov. Josh Shapiro, D. The state Department of Environmental Protection will develop the new review process. To receive a faster state permitting review, data center projects in Pennsylvania must source their electricity from new power supplies, including from growing amounts of firm clean power, according to the order, which affects proposals for projects

"Let's Downsize": Antifa Uses Instagram To Put 'Luigi-Style' Hit On Flock Camera CEO Karlyn Borysenko , who describes herself as an anti-communist analyst and observer of the far-left, posted a screenshot of an Instagram post from an account called " 3chordpolitics ." The post could be interpreted as a targeted, implicitly violent communication directed at Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety. With high confidence, the 3chordpolitics post deliberately invokes violence against CEOs. As Borysenko wrote on X, " Antifa on Instagram is issuing death threats to CEOs, referencing bullets and Luigi Mangione, and essentially using the platform to

Broadcom CDS Explodes As It Seeks Up To $100 Billion In Massive Off-Balance Sheet Debt Deal Amid the growing angst about hyperscaler CapEx (and more specifically, the historic flood of new debt issuance to fund it), attention among the always-bullish equity talking-heads has shifted - and rightfully so - to the bond markets as alarm signals flare up with an increasing frequency. Of course, for ZeroHedge readers, this is not a new topic, it is something we have been warning of for the past year, ever since we explained that debt was the true AI bubble last October : The

The All-Seeing Eye Authored by Todd Hayen via OffGuardian , What was once the paranoid whisper of conspiracy has become the marketed convenience of 'life logging' - yet beneath the promise of perfect memory lies the total erasure of privacy, turning every shrew into a unwitting performer on the surveillance stage. (If you haven't read enough of my work to know what a "shrew" is, read this: Sheep and Shrew ) During a recent three-hour ramble with my sister - one of those wide-ranging, idea-sparking talkathons we've shared for years - the little recording device I had just bought, attached

Cost Of Living Remains Biggest Challenge Facing Americans The war in Iran marked a significant setback in Americans' year-long battle with high prices. While inflation has come down a long way from its 2021/2022 highs, when it peaked at 9 percent, it remains elevated at 3.4 percent . More importantly though, as Statista's Felix Richter reports , people are still struggling to cope with the lasting effects of the inflation crisis. According to a Statista Consumer Insights survey conducted between January and July 2026, 53 percent of U.S. adults said that the high cost of living was one of the

Western Woman Travels To India And Finds The Misery Of Cultural Enrichment It's been a long time since the Beatles convinced an entire generation of western youth in 1968 that "enlightenment" and personal peace could be found in the third world backwaters of India's ashram retreats. As it turned out, the world famous band and the yogi scammers of that era would end up creating a trend that would sucker gullible liberals for decades to come. The hippies were not smart, they were merely impressionable. Today, the streets of India are likely the same in most places as they were

Coking Coal Prices Surge 25%, Squeezing India's Steelmakers Submitted By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com Indian steelmakers are reeling from a jump in coking coal prices this year that is squeezing their margins and delaying capacity expansion in the steelmaking industry, analysts and industry executives tell Reuters . India relies on imports for as much as 95% of its coking coal, or metallurgical coal, demand. Metallurgical coal is a grade of coal that is one of the essential raw materials in the steelmaking process. Also known as met coal, this type of coal contains more carbon, less ash and less moisture

Poll Shows Voters Reject US-Israel Military Integration Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams A new poll of US voters published this week offers a warning for congressional lawmakers backing a plan to deepen military ties between the United States and Israel, finding that a clear majority of voters oppose the proposal—which some critics have called "treasonous . " The Data for Progress survey of 1,217 likely US voters—conducted August 3–7 for Demand Progress and the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project—revealed that 61% of respondents oppose legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027 that

Watch Darline Graham's Epic Debate Flub That Could Cost Her The SC Primary In the worst response by a female South Carolinian to a foreign-policy question since the 2007 Teen USA beauty pageant, Lindsey Graham's sister on Tuesday night painfully displayed her utter inexperience in national politics , drawing a blank and bailing out of a basic question as she squared off against her run-off opponent, Rep. Ralph Norman. After Sen. Lindsey Graham's sudden July death, Gov. Henry McMaster appointed his sister Darline to see out the remaining months of his term. It started as a sentimental gesture that would

ADNOC Issues Ninth Spot Crude Tender Since June As UAE Boosts Oil Exports Submitted by Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has just issued its ninth spot tender offering crude oil to buyers for October and November loadings, as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to push its oil production and exports higher despite the Hormuz crisis. The UAE’s national oil company is offering Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu, and Das crude grades pumped at fields inside the Persian Gulf in its ninth spot tender since June, sources in the trade industry told Reuters on Thursday. In

The Dem 'Big Tent Party' Is Doomed Authored by Noel Williams via AmericanThinker.com, Towards the end of every calendar year, various colleges publish lists of overused words and phrases . Though it is only August, here’s an obvious entrant for 2026: “big tent party.” Invoking that tired phrase is part of the sophistry that “establishment” Dems contrive to outwit dumb fake-news hosts. It is an attempt to obfuscate concerns about the commie takeover of their party. Publicly and performatively, they pretend to welcome the commies because they are a “big tent party.” Wrong! They are a “folding tent” party when

"Get Long And Buckle Up": Jeff Currie Says Commodity Bull Market Entering Next Leg The breadth of the commodity advance is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore . Quantix Commodity Index Diesel crack spreads have surged above $100, copper is trading above $14,000 a ton in London, gold and silver are accelerating amid US Treasury market intervention, and the Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index is surging higher. At the same time, the dollar weakened sharply following Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's intervention this week, providing an additional tailwind to the commodity complex. According to veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie , the convergence of

With plentiful jobs and community support, one Mexico City neighbourhood has become a haven for those who have lived much of their lives in the US With its wide avenues lined with tall palm trees, its quaint cafes and old-school cantinas, as well as the mix of English and Spanish spoken on the street, the Tabacalera neighborhood in downtown Mexico City has a certain US feel – so much so that it is has become known as Little LA . The nickname is about more than appearances, however. In recent years, this corner of the metropolis has become a haven

Fernando Cerimedo, 42, arrested on suspicion of ordering shooting of Bolivian lawyer Nadia Beller A senior adviser to many of Latin America’s new wave of far-right leaders has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the attempted murder of his girlfriend. The businessman and political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, 42, had been working as an adviser to the Bolivian president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, and was one of the main strategists behind Javier Milei’s campaign in Argentina’s 2023 presidential election. Continue reading...

Beto Coral held up banners in Florida warning fellow Colombians to not vote for Abelardo de la Espriella In the week before Colombia’s presidential election, Beto Coral, a well-known activist living in the United States, travelled to Florida to persuade fellow Colombians not to vote for the far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella. Coral held banners outside polling stations in Miami warning that the millionaire lawyer, whose candidacy was endorsed by Donald Trump, would “help deport all of you”. Continue reading...

US president delays 50% tariffs by three days, and says contentious oil project ‘may be awoken from the grave’ Canada has temporarily avoided a bruising 50% US tariff, reaching a Tuesday-evening agreement with Trump administration officials hours before a hike that would have affected $20bn worth of goods was set to take effect. Donald Trump posted late on Tuesday on social media that he had paused the tariffs for three days “based on the fact that Canada and the USA, subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” Continue reading...

President, 80, vows to keep far-right from power as Flávio Bolsonaro tells supporters he will ‘fight this system’ Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has launched his campaign for a historic fourth term and vowed that as long as he lived he would not allow the “shameless” right to return to power. Addressing a sea of supporters in São Bernardo do Campo, the industrial city where his political career began nearly half a century ago, the 80-year-old politician reminded voters of the chaos and violence that unfolded during the 2018-22 presidency of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro ,

UK Foreign Office condemns use of national security law to convict activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung Two Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils marking China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 have been found guilty of “incitement to subversion” in one of the most high-profile cases in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed its national security law in 2020. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, “incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”, a press summary handed out to reporters said. The defendants each face

Downpours break records and cause transport chaos, evacuations and deaths, as people get trapped inside vehicles South Korea and Japan were hit by extreme rain late last week and into this week. On 13 August in the city of Chiba near Tokyo there was a record-breaking 115mm of rainfall in just one hour, while the nearby city of Sakura broke its own record with 97mm in one hour. Local authorities issued a level 5 emergency warning for heavy rain, the highest alert level and the first time one has been issued since the system was implemented in May. More than

Pacific fleet launched missile drills near what Moscow calls the Kuril Islands but Japan regards as its Northern Territories Japan has criticised missile tests carried out by Russia’s navy around the disputed islands visited by Vladimir Putin last week amid continuing tensions between the two countries. Russia’s Pacific fleet said on Thursday that it had fired Bastion surface-to-ship missiles from Etorofu, the largest island in the disputed archipelago, simulating an attack on enemy vessels, hitting all of its targets approximately 300km away. Continue reading...

Hui Ka Yan also forfeits all his personal property and the company he set up is given hefty fines Business live – latest updates The founder of Evergrande, one of China’s largest property developers, has been sentenced to life in prison and had all of his personal property confiscated. Hui Ka Yan, 67 and once named by Forbes as China’s richest man, with a net worth of $42.5bn (£31.2bn) in 2017, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges. Continue reading...

Launches, detected by South Korea and Japan, came after US scaled back exercises with South Korea in apparent overture to Kim Jong-un North Korea has launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, South Korea’s military said, a day after Pyongyang shrugged off Donald Trump’s order to scale back US military drills with South Korea in an apparent attempt to resume diplomacy. The joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were launched from the region of Pyongyang at around 5pm (08.00 GMT) on Thursday towards North Korea’s eastern waters. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Woman behind allegation of sexual assault linked to Sydney Swans reportedly says she wants ‘justice’ The woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted in a Melbourne hotel told the Herald Sun “all I care about is justice”. I don’t want money. All I care about is justice. I’m going to stand up for what is right. And I’m never going to let this happen to anyone else. Justice will be served. Continue reading...

Vladmir Teslov, 27, charged after allegedly seeking to provide information about Ukrainian forces to ‘Russian intelligence services’ Australian police have charged a man who allegedly joined the Ukrainian military and sought to provide information about its activities to people he suspected were Russian agents. Vladimir Teslov, a dual Russian-Australian citizen, appeared in court on Friday after the Australian federal police (AFP) charged him with an attempted foreign interference. The offence carries a 20-year prison sentence. Continue reading...

David Elliott tells inquiry of branch stacking and death threats as Catholic Schools NSW sack boss after appearance Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A former New South Wales Liberal minister has told an inquiry he came to believe “a cult had taken over the party” after branch stacking by the religious right faction, while the chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW has been sacked following his appearance before the corruption watchdog. Former Liberal minister and MP for the now-abolished seat of Baulkham Hills, David

Church director tells parliamentary inquiry reporting by Nine newspapers a ‘complete lie’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church has denied it secretly paid far-right influencers to stage stunts targeting Anthony Albanese and other politicians during an appearance at a parliamentary inquiry into the 2025 election. The church also denied claims it had coordinated hundreds of volunteers to support Liberal candidates, including at polling booths across the country. Continue reading...

Jenny Ware, member of inquiry that recommended wagering advertising ban, says ‘public health crisis’ demands stronger response from major parties Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has condemned her one-time Coalition colleagues for backing Labor’s gambling legislation, claiming “vulnerable Australians have been let down”, as the parliament failed to back a full ban on wagering ads. Ware, a member of the Peta Murphy-led inquiry in 2023 that recommended entirely ending wagering advertising and inducements, called gambling a public health

Many males are returned even if they have been trafficked but Home Office must now consider new legal guidance UK politics live – latest updates The Home Office could be blocked from deporting many young male trafficking victims to Albania after a major court ruling. Thousands of Albanian males have been identified as potential trafficking victims in the UK in recent years. Many are sent back to their country even if they are potential or confirmed victims of trafficking, as the Home Office contends they will be safe there. Continue reading...

Aeroplane maker said to have watered down plans to restrict working from home to one day a week Airbus has reportedly bowed to employee demands on remote working, after a series of strikes over its chief executive’s return-to-the office orders. The world’s largest aeroplane maker is said to have watered down plans to restrict remote working to one day a week from September. At present, staff are able to work remotely for two. Continue reading...

Authorities believe handguns found in forest near Berlin were ⁠to be used ⁠to ​carry out assassinations for Russian intelligence, Sueddeutsche reports German security authorities discovered handguns stashed in ⁠a forest near Berlin last year that they believe were ⁠to be used ⁠to ​carry out assassinations on behalf of Russian intelligence, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on ⁠Friday. The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading...

Film emerges as France says it has stopped 185 small boat ‘events’ in three months since new £660m deal with UK Footage has captured the moment French police officers clashed with people on a beach in northern France as the authorities tried to intercept a dinghy attempting to reach the UK. Men wearing lifejackets appear to throw objects at the police to try to keep them away from their dinghy. The officers then use Pava spray before slashing the inflatable boat with a knife. Continue reading...

Value of banknotes in circulation rises from €1tn in 2016 to €1.6tn in 2026 as people advised to keep stash of cash The number of banknotes in circulation in the EU is increasing despite widespread smartphone payments, new data shows, with wildfires ripping through parts of Europe fuelling demand for an emergency stash of cash. While cash plays second fiddle to contactless payments in many cities across Europe, the amount in circulation is actually going up, Philip Lane, the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), said at the MacGill summer school conference in Ireland. Continue reading...

Report says violence is moving from Israeli-controlled areas to those earmarked for a future Palestinian state Violent Israeli settler attacks in the two areas of the occupied West Bank under direct Palestinian rule have almost doubled since 2025, as settlers pursue a self-proclaimed “great settlement revolution” in the very heart of the territory earmarked for a Palestinian state. According to a report by the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din , shared with the Guardian, data shows that almost two-thirds of incidents of settler violence so far in 2026 have taken place in the so-called Areas A and B –

Military orders criminal investigation into deaths of five-year-old and six family members in Gaza in 2024 The Israeli military admitted on Wednesday its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing. The killing of Hind and her family was one of the most high profile of a series of incidents involving civilian casualties during the first months of the Gaza conflict which prompted international outrage. Continue reading...

Far-right minister says those convicted in military courts of terror offences will be executed after passing of death penalty law that does not apply to Jewish extremists Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences – but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes – will be hanged. Ben-Givr, who has previously attracted international sanctions and condemnation for his activities, said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings. Continue reading...

US president pivots towards ‘crushing’ economic operation against Iran and its trading partners as military strikes fail to bring Tehran to the table Donald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented. “Today, I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran

Picture showing White Helmets volunteer unconscious and with bruises on his body went viral Syrians have protested over the death of a man who was arrested and allegedly beaten by security forces, sparking widespread anger at a practice thought to have ended with the fall of Bashar al-Assad. A crowd gathered in the city of Aleppo, demanding accountability for the security forces who are alleged to have carried out the torture, with participants holding signs and slogans such as: “Do not repeat the same oppression that we revolted against.” Protests were also planned to take place in front of Syria’s

Supreme court ordered transfer of ex-leader whose health is reportedly deteriorating, but he was returned to prison several hours later Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was briefly taken to a hospital in the country’s capital on supreme court orders after weeks of uproar about his deteriorating health. Khan, 73, was transferred to the hospital in the early hours of Friday, but then moved back to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi after a ⁠few hours, a spokesperson for his party said on Friday. Continue reading...

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisals A man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement. Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for

Campaigners fear deeper diplomatic contacts are undermining demands for improvements in human rights The Taliban in Afghanistan have launched a diplomatic effort to end their isolation as major regional and international powers show a readiness to engage more closely with the repressive regime despite its systematic human rights abuses. Five years after the Taliban took power , an increasing number of countries are renewing ties or scaling up diplomatic contacts with the hardline Islamists, who seized power in Kabul in 2021 after 20 years of brutal insurgent warfare. Continue reading...

Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021. Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Continue reading...

The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 years On 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought extinct, with the last reliable sighting in the country recorded more than 70 years

Head of foreign affairs select committee urges government to adopt ban amid rising settler violence, after foreign secretary rebukes Israel over construction tender After Emily Thornberry’s call for the government to ban goods from the occupied West Bank (see post at 11:05 ), Peter Beaumont and Quique Kierszenbaum report on how Israeli settler attacks in areas designated for a future Palestinian state and currently under direct Palestinian control have almost doubled since 2025. They wrote: According to a report by the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din , shared with the Guardian, data shows that almost two-thirds of incidents of

Activists who targeted bank in Burnley were found guilty in June of causing damage exceeding £200,000 Five Palestine Action activists who vandalised a Barclays branch in Burnley will not be sentenced as terrorists, a judge has ruled. Dubbed the Barclays five, Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70, were all found guilty in June of causing damage exceeding £200,000, after breaking windows and throwing red paint at a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire in August 2024. Continue reading...

Pre-tax earnings slump at chef’s food and media group after one-off costs including for a new cookery school Jamie and Jools Oliver have paid themselves a £1.7m dividend – more than 40% down on last year – after profits at their cookery and media empire almost halved. Sales at Jamie Oliver Holdings remained broadly steady at £28.4m in 2025, £160,000 less than in the previous year, as a strong performance at the group’s own restaurants, franchise business, cookery schools and TV productions offset a decline in royalties, licensing and endorsements. Continue reading...

Jason Murphy believes he knows who killed McKee in Derry, but culture of silence and mistrust of police is denying her family justice When Lyra McKee was shot and killed on the night of 18 April 2019, approximately 150 people were in her vicinity. The 29-year-old journalist had watched in a crowd as rioting broke out in Derry, Northern Ireland. Police footage captured the grainy outline of a man firing a handgun. “Someone’s fucking shot,” a bystander could be heard crying in mobile phone footage shown as evidence in court. “There’s a fucking kid shot in the head.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Planning documents show datacentre in North Ockendon would be incompatible with UK net zero targets A “hyperscale” datacentre in outer London would generate more than 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 27,000 flights from London to New York, planning documents show. The East Havering Data Centre Campus (EHDCC) in North Ockendon would be one of the largest datacentres in Europe if approved by Havering council, using 218 hectares of green belt to run servers and data storage systems for AI and cloud computing. Its developer, Digital Reef, has described the scheme as

First Muslim woman and Afghan American elected to California legislature held lead throughout race over main opponent Melissa Hernandez Sign up for the US Breaking News email President Donald Trump announced a plan to temporarily drop tariffs on imported ground beef in a Truth Social post early Friday morning. Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” the president posted. “As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history. As we work to rebuild

Pima county figures show highest number of monthly migrant deaths in two years as critics condemn US policy According to newly released data from the medical examiner’s office in Pima county, Arizona, the remains of 19 migrants, including children, were recovered along the Arizona-Mexico border last month. The figure accounts for the highest number of monthly deaths in that area since 2024 and brings the number of total remains found to 73 this year, 14 more than the same time period last year. Continue reading...

The USS George Washington has arrived in the Middle East. Plus, an investigation into the add-on utility fees that can lead to evictions Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. The USS George Washington aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln from its record deployment, amid concerns about poor living conditions and morale. What are conditions like on the Lincoln? The ship has spent more than 250 days at sea supporting US operations against Iran without a significant port visit or date to return home for the

The tabloid boasted in a now-deleted article that they found White and promised to reveal her ‘secret new life’ The Daily Mail newspaper secretly tailed and photographed a woman in Detroit and then published an article and photographs falsely accusing her of being former The White Stripes drummer Meg White, even after she told the newspaper it had mistaken her identity, multiple sources have told the Guardian. The rightwing British tabloid quietly removed the article and photographs, first published on 6 August, from its website last week. The Mail did not issue a correction or editor’s note explaining the removal.

Business owner Assim Alkhawaja was arrested by ICE as he dropped off Lyft passengers at a military base. Now he’s stuck in a terrifying fight to stay in the US Deep within the bowels of San Diego’s federal courthouse, Assim Alkhawaja sat on the floor outside a nondescript office, waiting to be called for his ICE-mandated immigration appointment. He stared straight ahead, his posture tense, his face a mask. The hallway was brown, as was the carpet. Above Alkhawaja’s head hung a framed stock photo of a waterfall. A few paces away, official government signs encouraged people without legal status

Russia’s Pacific Fleet said on Thursday it has conducted a missile test off a group of Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands amid an intensifying row over the disputed territory following President Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit there last week. While it was unclear exactly when the test was carried out, the announcement comes after the Russian foreign ministry summoned Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto over Japan’s protest against Putin’s trip to the area. Putin visited Etorofu...

US authorities charged a woman who allegedly supported the Islamic State group with a terrorism offence on Thursday after she told an FBI informant she “wanted to destroy” the New York State Capitol building, court filings showed. Located in Albany near the Canadian border, the New York State Capitol is the nerve centre of the state government and contains both houses of the state’s legislature. Jessica Bowie, 35, was charged with attempting to provide material support to designated “foreign...

When the US government announced the addition of 43 Chinese companies to an import blacklist in late July over allegations of forced labour in the country’s western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region – including several household food and apparel brands – the local reaction to the news was surprisingly calm. “It felt like a sudden batch of companies was added out of nowhere … but it shouldn’t have much of an impact on the sector,” said the owner of a cotton-ginning mill in southern Xinjiang, who...

Much of the Western debate about China begins with a category error. “Communism” is often treated as synonymous with a monolithic command economy, limited private enterprise and bureaucratic control over every commercial decision. Modern China does not fit that model. It is better understood as a mixed, state-led system in which private enterprise, foreign investment and fiercely competitive markets coexist alongside public ownership and state control in strategic sectors. This is more than...

A US Army unit is offering its troops a special bonus if they re-enlist soon: four extra days off timed around the November release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI. Commanders of the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, believe free time to indulge in the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series – in which players commit carjackings, battle police in shoot-outs and attempt audacious heists – will sway some soldiers to extend their military commitments. The...

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has returned to the country after a more than two-month absence that has fuelled fierce debate about his ability to rule after 44 years in power. Biya, who at the age of 93 is the world’s oldest serving head of state, landed in Yaounde in the late afternoon from Geneva, where he had been staying since June 7 on what his office called “a short private stay”. Cameroonian media had reported that Biya, leader since 1982, had been in the Swiss city with family members...

China rejected a White House report on Thursday that accused its exporters of routing goods through Mexico and other countries to avoid US tariffs, hours after word emerged that Mexico was preparing to restrict Chinese products further. He Yadong, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, told a regular press briefing in Beijing that the report “ignored facts and distorted reality by treating normal international trade and investment as fraud”. He called it a “typical exercise in...

Christian metal band Demon Hunter is suing Netflix, alleging trademark infringement associated with the streamer’s hit film KPop Demon Hunters. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by Hyde Lane, the corporate entity for Demon Hunter, against Netflix, Netflix Studios and AEG Presents, the live entertainment division of AEG, with claims that the defendants have “created a substantial likelihood of confusion” among consumers. The metalcore band – which was formed in 2000 out of Seattle by brothers Ryan...

A Belgian university on Thursday suspended a US academic who spearheaded accusations of plagiarism against Jason Arday, the black ex-Cambridge professor found dead last week after resigning over the scandal. Researcher Nathan Cofnas – a self-defined “race realist” who was himself sacked from his Cambridge post two years ago – posted on social media: “I was just suspended by Ghent University. “They will almost certainly fire me.” Without naming Cofnas, the University of Ghent said in a statement...

An aeroplane pilot died on Wednesday after a violent collision with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter near a runway at a small airport, but both state troopers aboard the helicopter survived, authorities said. The plane was coming down on the runway and veered into the helicopter that was near the ground, Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, the state’s acting police commissioner, said during a news conference. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board...

Six months into its war with the United States, Iran’s military has begun signalling a shift from retaliation to offence, which analysts say could reflect Tehran’s belief it holds leverage to advance its demands and break the stalemate. Since US-Israeli strikes launched the war on February 28, Tehran has largely portrayed its strikes against the US, Israel and Gulf countries as revenge for attacks on the Islamic Republic. Now, Iranian officials are openly talking about giving offensive...

After more than two years of taking on Israel’s enemies across the Middle East, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing a tough re-election fight, is zeroing in on another perceived villain – Turkey. On Tuesday, warplanes bombed a base in northern Syria a short drive from the Turkish border. Netanyahu said Turkey was looking to establish a military presence there and that, after it ignored Israel’s warnings: “We made sure they understood it more clearly.” Heading into the October 27 election,...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday dismissed US President Donald Trump’s economic punishment plan for Tehran as a continuation of “failed policies”, which he said would bring Washington “further defeat”. “The so-called Economic D-Day is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs. Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat – and enmity of Iranians,” Araghchi said on social media. “US economic terrorism threatens global...

A mission to ⁠rescue Nasa’s ageing Swift observatory in space was cancelled on Wednesday after the spacecraft that was launched to tug the satellite to a higher orbit suffered irredeemable technical issues in space, the rescue craft’s owner, Katalyst Space, said. Katalyst’s ‌Link craft was launched in early July to approach the observatory, also known as Swift, some 347km (216 miles) in space, grapple onto it and then tug it to a higher orbit of roughly 600km (373 miles), extending its life by...

Six years after stepping down as working royals, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are moving back to the UK, British press reported late on Wednesday. In a surprise move, the youngest son of King Charles, and his wife, “plan to leave the United States by the end of the month to settle in a private, non-royal residence, which is said to be located outside London”, The Telegraph said. Several UK news outlets including the BBC reported the couple’s two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess...

South Korea’s security strategy has rested for more than seven decades on a single pillar: its alliance with the United States. That pillar has absorbed one blow after another during Donald Trump’s second term as US president. This week brought a fresh signal that has strained the relationship. In a social media post, Trump criticised joint US-South Korea military exercises, calling them “costly” and saying they send an “inappropriate and hostile” message to a North Korea he described as...

Total US public debt surpassed US$40 trillion for the first time, and has now surged by a third in less than five years, as US lawmakers continue to shrug off calls to contend with historically wide financial deficits. Public debt outstanding stood at US$40.05 trillion as of the close of business on Tuesday, a US Treasury Department release on Wednesday showed. The crossing of the US$30 trillion mark only dates back to January 2022. And there is no end in sight. Republicans have long opposed...

New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled plans on Wednesday to offer those sleeping rough a way off the streets by Christmas and vowed to donate part of his wages to help curb homelessness. “No one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station,” Burnham said in a statement announcing the new plans. It comes a month after Burnham replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister, and builds on his promise on his first day in office to end rough sleeping. His government is now setting out the...

France saw more than 7,300 excess deaths during heatwaves so far this year, health authorities said on Wednesday, as the country also endured a record number of hot days since mid-June, according to an Agence France-Presse analysis. France has been hit by three summer heatwaves in quick succession: a 14-day spell in June, 16 days in July and another lasting 22 days that began in late July and has yet to be officially declared over as of Tuesday. Together they mean the country – parts of which...

US pharmaceutical firms Merck and Moderna announced on Wednesday encouraging results from a trial of their experimental vaccine against melanoma, potentially clearing the way for approval. The vaccine, called intismeran autogene, showed “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements” for skin cancer patients when used with Merck’s Keytruda treatment, the companies said in a statement. Unlike conventional vaccines, so-called therapeutic vaccines like intismeran treat rather...

Ecuador’s intelligence chief and five US citizens died when a helicopter carrying tourists crashed in central Kenya on Wednesday, killing all seven people on board, officials said. The accident happened at 9.13am local time, in Samburu county, north of the capital, Nairobi, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), after the aircraft departed from the Loisaba wildlife reserve. Images shared by the Kenya Red Cross on social media in the afternoon showed a crash site in...

Israel’s military acknowledged on Wednesday that its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and her family members in Gaza in 2024 and said it had opened a criminal investigation, though rights groups say such probes rarely lead to convictions. Hind Rajab’s killing was one of the most high-profile incidents involving civilian deaths during Israel’s military assault ‌in Gaza, launched following the 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. She died...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired one of his most senior officials on Wednesday as corruption investigators named a deputy head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case. The stunning developments came a day after Ukraine’s recently fired defence minister demanded national elections, despite Russia’s more than four-year-old invasion. Zelensky has maintained that such a ballot is not allowed under wartime laws. Although Zelensky was not implicated in the...

Iran’s armed forces warned Gulf countries against assisting the US military on Wednesday, hours after the United Arab Emirates announced it was severing economic ties with Tehran following new attacks on shipping. The Gulf is dotted with US military installations, including in the UAE, which said on Tuesday that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles at vessels off its coast. Despite a recent lull in hostilities between the United States and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz – which Tehran has blockaded...

Instead of celebrating her son’s birthday this month, Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere spent the day praying for his body to be brought home from Russia, where he was reportedly killed fighting Moscow’s war against Ukraine. In Botswana and South Africa, too, women are desperate for sons and husbands to return from a conflict many say they were duped into joining, as authorities warn recruiters are still active. Chitewere’s son, who would have turned 23, left with a cousin in April from a...

Japan is weighing how far to push back after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a disputed island last week, as analysts debate whether tougher measures would have much impact on Moscow. Some observers urged Japan to recall its ambassador, impose additional sanctions and deepen cooperation with Ukraine to show it would not be “bullied”, while others said Tokyo had little economic leverage left given already weak bilateral ties and its reliance on Russian natural gas. Putin made his...

The world knows that US President Donald Trump is angry with Iran. But he is not happy with the small country lying across the Strait of Hormuz from the Islamic Republic, either: Oman. Oman has played a relatively low profile role since the Iran war began, including as a mediator. But its geography has thrust the sultanate into the uncomfortable position of negotiating with Tehran over management of the strait while facing Trump’s threats. Trump this week told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst that...

Japan’s most greying municipality has turned to its Peruvian sister city in search of a way to reverse its population decline and address the labour shortage that together threaten its survival. The mountain village of Nanmoku in Gunma prefecture, where 65.2 per cent of residents were aged 65 or older in the 2020 census, signed a sister-city agreement with Belen in northern Peru in November, hoping cultural exchanges under the framework will eventually bring young people to live and work in the...

Flight attendants and pilots are at the highest risk of dying from radiation-related cancers – even more than people who work with radioactive materials, according to a new study. Cosmic radiation comes from space. Only a small amount reaches the Earth’s surface, but exposure is greater for people flying at high altitudes. There has been limited evidence from small studies suggesting that the exposure translates to higher cancer death rates among people who fly often – particularly pilots and...

A close aide to Donald Trump is at the centre of an ugly clash between the White House and Senator Jon Ossoff, after the Democratic lawmaker drew the administration’s ire for highlighting the close nature of her relationship with the US president. Natalie Harp, a 35-year-old executive assistant to the president, is little known to the public but a constant presence at Trump’s side, both in the White House and during weekend trips to his golf properties. In her role, she is seen as a gatekeeper,...

The United Arab Emirates has said it is suspending all trade and financial dealings with Iran after reporting an Iranian missile attack directed at its ships. The announcement comes after a period of relative calm in the UAE, with no Iranian missiles aimed at the country since May after it bore the brunt of attacks in the early weeks of the Middle East war. Abu Dhabi has, however, accused Tehran of repeatedly targeting its tankers at sea in recent weeks. “In light of regional escalations … all...

A US Navy destroyer with about 300 sailors aboard suffered a major breakdown in the Pacific Ocean last month that left it without power for four days, the Navy confirmed in a statement. The USS Benfold “reported an engineering casualty involving its generators, causing a loss of power” on July 24, Navy spokesman Commander Matthew Comer said in the statement. The breakdown meant the crew went without drinking water, meals, functioning toilets and air conditioning for days aboard the ship, Comer...

Mexico is weighing plans to impose further trade restrictions on selected products from China and other countries while raising existing import taxes on others, according to four people familiar with the matter. The so-called anti-dumping measures would deepen Mexico’s alignment with Washington as President Claudia Sheinbaum pursues a multi-year extension of the North American trade pact known as the USMCA, while also supporting her push to grow domestic manufacturing at a time of lacklustre...

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on the International Criminal Court’s president and a senior trial lawyer at the court, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against The Hague-based court, which was established ‌in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the court. Rubio said in a statement that he was imposing sanctions on...

Meta Platforms intentionally sought to ⁠addict children to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a lawyer for California said on Tuesday at the start of a trial that could reshape some of the most popular apps on the planet. A bipartisan group of 29 US states is suing Meta, seeking potentially tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties and changes to how Meta does business. Four lead states – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – accuse Meta of designing Facebook and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow ⁠on Tuesday with ⁠Myanmar’s junta chief-turned-president, Min Aung ⁠Hlaing, discussing a wide range of issues including prospective energy deals. Russia is the first non-neighbouring country Min Aung Hlaing has visited since becoming Myanmar’s president in April, a sign of the two countries’ ‌deepening ties in the face of pressure from the West. In remarks after the meeting, Putin described Min Aung Hlaing as a friend of Russia and said the...

US President Donald Trump paused the planned roll-out of punishing new tariffs on Canadian goods late on Tuesday, as both sides indicated they were close to a broader trade agreement after weeks of talks. Trump announced the three-day reprieve from 50 per cent duties on select goods mere hours before a midnight deadline. The delay was “based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalisation of documents, have a DEAL!” Trump said on social media. Canadian Prime Minister Mark...

US President Donald Trump said that Tuesday that no talks with Iran were under way or scheduled, as he posted a map showing the Strait of Hormuz as a new American territory in a fresh jibe at Tehran. Trump has been pressing his threat to claim sovereignty over the crucial energy waterway as the nearly six-month-old Iran war grinds on with little sign of resolution. Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner had said on Monday that the United States and Iran were having “very positive and active...

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and risks spreading to more countries, the head of the World Health Organization has warned. “We must be frank: the epidemic is far from being under control,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an emergency meeting on the outbreak on Tuesday. “It had a big head start, and we are still playing catch-up.” His comment came after the DR Congo on Monday said the outbreak...

Some women who entered Spain’s ⁠North African enclave of Ceuta on July 30 as part of a mass migrant crossing say the ⁠hardships of sleeping rough as they wait to be registered are compounded by the threat and fear of sexual harassment. More than a dozen women have set up camp on a wooded roadside running up to the barbed wire fencing that surrounds the government-run migrant reception centre, near the urban beach of El Trampolin. The facility is sheltering about 700 people, 200 more than...

The Israeli military is touted as the most powerful in the Middle East, striking targets deep into enemy territory. But for more than a week, Israeli troops have somehow failed to evict a small group of settlers sitting on rocks in the occupied West Bank. Experts say the military has long shown inertia when its task is stopping surging violence against Palestinians, due to government backing for the settlement movement and the increasing influence of settler ideology within the army’s...

As the Iran war spills over into the Red Sea – a crucial chokepoint for Asia-Europe trade – China has marked a milestone by launching its first regular service through the Arctic’s Northern Sea Route (NSR), a development welcomed by Russia. The route, which runs along Russia’s northern Arctic coast, slashes travel time compared with alternative paths. A journey from Ningbo city on China’s southeast coast to Felixstowe in the United Kingdom takes just 20 days – about half the time required for...

A German court on Tuesday handed a jail sentence of one year and three months to a Ukrainian man for spying for Russia and helping prepare possible acts of sabotage. The court in Stuttgart acquitted two other Ukrainian men aged 22 and 25 who were on trial for the same plot, which involved posting test packages containing GPS trackers in March last year to Ukraine. The plan was aimed at scoping out possibilities for “disrupting transport and infrastructure” and was ultimately directed by a...

A Syrian court on Tuesday handed a death sentence to Wassim al-Assad who appeared in the dock, a cousin of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad who was himself sentenced to death in absentia last week. The 46-year-old relative of Assad was convicted over atrocities committed under the autocrat’s rule during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said Assad’s cousin was convicted of multiple murders and “murder accompanied by torture and brutality … classified as crimes...

The Milky Way, a ⁠large and spiral-shaped galaxy that is home to hundreds of billions of stars including our sun, has taken a long and complicated path to achieve its current dimensions, as illustrated by new research documenting a milestone event early in its history. Scientists observing clusters of stars congregated near the Milky Way’s centre have discovered evidence that our galaxy swallowed a smaller galaxy roughly 11.8 billion years ago, when the universe was less ‌than 15 per cent of its...

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, lead negotiator in talks with Washington, made the comments after President Trump vowed an “economic D-Day” against Iran.

More vessels are navigating the Strait of Hormuz with their location devices turned off to evade attacks by Iran, adding to the threat of collisions.

The couple lost their publicly funded security after deciding to leave Britain in 2020, deepening their split with the royal family.

High-quality bonds are still safer than stocks, but they have been swinging in value, so move cautiously, our columnist says.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has vowed to step up efforts to restore calm to the debt markets. So far, it’s not working out that way.

Fears about the war in Iran, government deficits, the economy and corporate borrowing stirred global markets.

In a rare interview, the onetime political outcast reflects on her route from “the uncomfortable side of history” to the threshold of leading Italy’s most durable postwar government.

The Italian prime minister is leading what will soon be the longest-lasting government in the country’s postwar history. She shows herself by turns funny and fierce in a rare interview.

The new government of Peter Magyar hoped to use the suite overlooking the Danube as evidence of an autocrat’s indulgence. The trappings fell short.

Americans say they hate prying cameras. But they can’t look away.

For years, Jessica Ramos used campaign money to pay for hotels and Amtrak tickets while also receiving state payments for travel, records and interviews show.

Local groups in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan opposed the plan, saying designs for two apartment buildings did not reflect the neighborhood’s historical character.

Federal prosecutors say the woman met with an F.B.I. informant several times to plan an attack on the building, which houses the governor’s office.

Tornadoes appeared in Queens and on Long Island as flooding disrupted traffic on some highways. A tornado was also confirmed in Delaware.

Though full of details that echo the life and career of Natalie Portman, “Life of M” remains chilly and abstract.

“Life of M,” Rachel Cusk’s new book, has a protagonist with an uncanny resemblance to Natalie Portman. But in an interview, Cusk says she never expected it would cause such a frenzy.

Art doesn’t predict the future, but it can be an early warning system.

China is winning the industries of the future. What should the U.S. do about it?

We look at how dire the situation has become inside Kyiv.

“It’s kind of weird to think he spent more nights with me this week than Melania,” O’Donnell said of President Trump on her last night guest-hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Samuel Tunick, who faces a felony charge for deleting his phone’s data during an airport customs search, called the government’s peering into people’s private lives “creepy.”