Minimalist News

WNBA To Hold 'Listening Sessions' After Second Former NBA Star Says He's A Woman, Declares For Draft Update (1800ET) : WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to teams that addresses ongoing discussions around transgender athletes in women's basketball. "I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women's basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention," Engelbert wrote in the memo, which was sent Friday afternoon and obtained by The Associated Press and ESPN . "I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations

'Busted': Female Bicyclists 'Bulk Up' Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com, I’ve been a bicyclist all my life, but because I came to serious road racing late in life, I never had the opportunity to be competitive. Oh, I had a few good bikes and wore the required attire, but I was never going to make the medal stand. I did ride with enough serious riders to understand their compulsions. Among them was doing whatever was necessary to shave every gram of weight possible off their trusty steeds and to make them, and themselves, more aerodynamic. Shaving the legs was

Hunter Biden Says Father's Cancer Has Spread Further: "Very Painful And Very Debilitating" Former President Joe Biden's prostate cancer has progressed and is causing him significant pain, his son Hunter said in a BBC interview broadcast Friday night. Former President Joe Biden's office announced in May 2025 that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images file "The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further," Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight . "It's very painful. It's very debilitating in many respects." He grew emotional discussing his father's

Jeftovic: The "Bitcoin Only" Era Is Over... Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower .com, (From The Sovereign Capitalist Letter #65 . I was traveling at the time of the Coinkite vulnerability, surfacing a recurring theme around how to safely balance cold storage and emergency access when on the road). Just when I thought the sentiment couldn’t get any worse, on July 29-30 reports began to emerge of “certain” Coldcards (which were supposed to be the industry standard of self-custody cold wallets), being drained of their funds. The reports are true, and this has enormous implications, not just for Coinkite, the

Another Sign Of The Times: 'F**k ICE' Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness, Strolling through a major American urban metropolis, I noticed that the tightly packed homes and squat tri-level apartments and condos had tiny, browning “natural gardens” pocked with the usual virtue-signaling lawn signs setting forth their progressive secular creed’s commandments: “kindness always,” “hate has no home here,” etc. Yet amidst this self-proclaimed bastion of love and tolerance, I quickly spied an ostensibly contradictory placard in many residential windows and, in fact, on the bumpers of many cars, both rust buckets and some upscale, socially responsible electric ones.

Ukrainian Drone With Huge Explosive Payload Hits Bulgaria Near Vital Gas Pipeline A major border and aerial incident has occurred between Ukraine and Bulgaria, and Bulgarian officials are outraged and demanding answers - ironically on the heels of a political shift regarding the Ukraine war wherein Sofia has stopped giving weaponry, citing its own stockpile shortages. A Ukrainian drone on Saturday breached Bulgaria's airspace and directly endangered vital energy infrastructure upon exploding in Bulgarian territory, regional media reports. These types of breaches of neighboring states' territories and spillover from the Ukraine war has been happening with increased regularity of late.

Student Loan Payments Are Spiking: What Changed On July 1 And What Borrowers Over 50 Should Do Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times , If you carry federal student loans, July 1, 2026, redrew your map. With last year's tax law changes taking effect on that date, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan was dismantled, and servicers began notifying millions of borrowers to pick a new repayment plan or have one picked for them. The end of the SAVE plan could raise your student loan payments unless you act before your 90-day deadline. zimmytws/shutterstock For

Iran Insists US Must Meet Stringent List Of Demands Before Hormuz Opens As expected, Iran is pressing hard to extract from Washington everything it can get - at a moment the Trump White House seems to be backing down from a heighted war over the Strait of Hormuz, given the serious risk of settling into a another years-long quagmire in the Middle East. The US administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, has appeared to back the Iran-Oman deal for the opening of the Strait, with President Trump and his officials having remained surprisingly quiet even as it has emerged that

How The UAE Has Kept Its Oil Flowing Through Hormuz By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com The United Arab Emirates has managed to boost its oil exports to pre-crisis levels as early as June, as it has kept pushing crude through the Strait of Hormuz and outside it. The UAE, which left OPEC on May 1, has found workarounds to the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz. It has been shuttling crude through the chokepoint to load it on larger vessels outside the Strait, maximizing the use of its onshore pipeline to ship crude from the west to the east of

Judge Denies Southern Poverty Law Center's Bid To Dismiss DOJ Indictment Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A federal judge on Aug. 7 rejected the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) bid to dismiss charges brought by the Justice Department, saying the nonprofit failed to show that the prosecution against it was vindictive. The department indicted the SPLC in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization was accused of defrauding donors by funneling millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and

"We're Here To Destroy The White Race": Democratic Socialist Of America Hero Declares War On West Marxist streamer Hasan Piker has emerged as an increasingly visible, if unofficial, spokesman for the Democratic Socialists of America's rapidly expanding political action network. He campaigned for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong while cultivating close ties with socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. From an electoral-risk perspective, Piker is becoming a liability for Democrats . His far-left, anti-American rhetoric provides Republicans with what we called " a gift " last week. Even Hillary Clinton warned on

Existing Power Plants Are "Bedrock" In Supplying Data Centers: Constellation CEO By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive.com Despite the Ratepayer Protection Pledge’s call for planned data centers to supply their own new generation, existing power plants will play a major role in supplying them with power, according to Joseph Dominguez, Constellation president and CEO. “We’re never going to build this economy if … we have to wait for new power plants to be built before we can connect any data center,” Dominguez said Thursday during an earnings conference call. “The bedrock of building out at least this early phase of the

Iran's Economy Is In Shambles As War Takes Its Toll Despite the bluster from Iranian officials on social media, it should come as no surprise that the country is not doing well economically. From the beginning of the conflict to current day, Iran has been dealt an estimated $270 billion to $300 billion in total damage due to a steady barrage of strikes, including numerous infrastructure targets from bridges, highways, railways, airports, etc. The three-month-long US blockade on Iran's oil exports have also taken a toll, with national oil output dropping from 2.2 million bpd to less than 300,000 bpd.

Trump Urges Pirro To 'Revisit' Decision To Drop Charges Against Accused Reflecting Pool Vandal After New Photos Emerge Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, President Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro “revisit” her decision to drop charges against an accused Reflecting Pool vandal after new photos shared on social media, showed clear signs of vandalism. The Department of Justice dismissed the case on August 1 after the Department of the Interior had concluded there were many flaws with the renovation project, including lining that appeared to begin peeling days after installation. The president on Monday railed against

Hillary Clinton Warns Dems: GOP's Anti-Communist Messaging "Very Effective" As Marxist Hijack Party Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Kara Swisher on the "Pivot" podcast that Republicans are deploying what she called a "very effective" anti-communist attack against the Democratic Party's rising class of far-left candidates , who are increasingly defeating establishment Democrats in primary races. Clinton told Swisher that Abdul El-Sayed's narrow victory in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary is a wake-up call for the party. She said El-Sayed must unite the party by winning over supporters of moderate Rep. Haley Stevens and reassuring independent voters ahead of his

Ukraine Faces Growing Air Defense Crisis As Patriot Supplies Dwindle Via RFE/RL , Ukraine failed to intercept any of the 24 ballistic missiles and four Zircon cruise missiles Russia fired in the August 5 attack, underscoring the strain on its missile defenses. U.S. Patriot availability has become a significant constraint after extensive interceptor use during the Iran conflict. Kyiv is increasingly seeking European inventories, expanded production, and eventually licensed or joint Patriot manufacturing to secure its air defenses ahead of winter. Ukraine's failure to intercept a single Russian missile during a large-scale overnight attack this week has raised fresh concerns

Oxford Union Debate Stunt Exposes The Real Limit Of Free Speech In Britain Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , In the heart of the Oxford Union, a supposed bastion of open debate, a single brown paper envelope triggered pure panic. Commentator Laurence Fox stood to argue that the West is right to be suspicious of Islam. He held up the envelope and indicated it contained a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. The chamber erupted in frantic attempts to stop him opening it. Rules were suddenly invoked. Relevance was questioned. Respect was demanded. The Muslim president of the Union

US Army's $400 Million Laser Deal Accelerates Race To Harden Bases From Kamikaze Swarms Building on our investment theme that the US military is racing to harden its bases with counter-drone systems capable of defeating Group 1-3 drones, and potentially Group 4 threats, Bloomberg reported late in Friday's US cash session that the Army plans to purchase at least $400 million of AeroVironment's counter-drone laser systems, citing a person familiar with the deal. The source told the outlet that the deal would provide the Army with dozens of LOCUST systems, which use artificial intelligence to track and identify small and

US Official: Hormuz Deal Is Imminent, Upon Which US Will Lift Blockade Of Iranian Ports Summary US official tells Reuters that US will lift blockade upon Omani deal announcement . Bessent: Hormuz could reopen under a 30-60 day ceasefire as soon as "today or tomorrow." Iran asserts that US & Israeli vessels remain barred until sanctions are lifted and compensation is paid . Trump says the conflict could "end pretty soon," signaling a possible final US exit . Iran remains defiant , pointing out it still has the leverage & can threaten Hormuz. However, the deal could reopen oil flows

Teacher Exposes Chaos: Violence, Drugs, & Prostitution At 75% Migrant School In Germany Via Remix News, A German teacher has described a secondary school in the Rhineland where violence, drug dealing, and severe behavioral problems have become part of everyday life, including one case in which a 15-year-old girl allegedly prostituted herself in the school toilets for drugs and money. Speaking anonymously to Bild , special education teacher “Carola S.” said around 75 percent of students at her school have a migrant background, with many having arrived from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Ukraine. “It’s all blowing up in our faces,”

Scientists race to untangle complex links between exposure and mortality as fire weather grows more prevalent A thousand kilometres from the infernos gorging on northern Ontario’s boreal forests, Erin O’Connor watched the sky above Canada’s biggest city turn an “almost post-apocalyptic” orange as it filled with light-scattering particles of soot and ash. Stepping outside the halls of Toronto General hospital, where air filters were keeping patients safe from the worst of the fumes, she was struck by a smell so strong it felt like standing by a campfire. “It really hit you in the face as soon as you walked

Trump ally Abelardo De La ‌Espriella vows to start ‘profound transformation’ of country’s destiny as he is sworn in The ​Trump administration plans to provide $1bn in security assistance to the ⁠government of Colombia’s new ​rightwing ‌president, the US state department announced, soon after Abelardo De La ‌Espriella was sworn in and used his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, as well as austerity measures to restore confidence in the economy. De La Espriella, 48, won June’s runoff election with ⁠promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink ⁠the state by as much as 40% and

Chad Eberle of Texas charged over deadly shooting in Saltillo that officials say stemmed from custody dispute A Texas police officer has been arrested in Mexico after authorities there accused him of killing three people and critically injuring the mother of his child in what investigators say stemmed from a dispute over the custody of the minor. The Coahuila attorney general’s office said 35-year-old Chad Eberle was arrested on Wednesday at the border on a warrant accusing him of femicide and qualified homicide, according to La Razon de Mexico, a newspaper based in Mexico City. Under Mexican law, femicide refers

As Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president vowing a new military offensive, the country’s last leftwing rebels are getting ready to fight back As the boat approached the riverbank, camouflaged figures watched from the tree line. Behind them, in the dim understory of the jungle, a commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sat with his rifle on his lap, amid the buzz and whine of insects and the thwacks of machetes on bamboo as his troops set up camp, hidden from enemy drones. Continue reading...

DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin says ‘We’re going after them right now’ despite threat of violence in home country Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are faced with the prospect of imminent risk of arrest and deportation – to a home country racked with crime, violence and political unrest – after the Trump administration officially stripped them of humanitarian protections that had allowed them to live and work legally in the United States for years. US district judge Ana Reyes confirmed on Wednesday that her order blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti was

Teenage girl treated in hospital after Friday’s school shooting has died, police say The death toll from a school shooting in Thailand rose to nine on Saturday, after police said a 12-year-old girl caught up in Friday’s incident had died. Police at the Plai Bang Police Station in Nonthaburi Province said the girl, who had been treated at hospital with critical wounds, had died, a day after a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot his grandparents and then killed more people at his school before turning the gun on ⁠himself. Continue reading...

Teenager killed his grandparents ⁠before opening fire at school near Bangkok, where more than 30 were wounded A Thai teenager killed his grandparents before opening fire at his school, where he shot five people dead and took his own life, police have said, in an attack that has shaken a country struggling to deal with gun violence. The 14-year-old wounded more than 30 people in the ⁠shooting at the prestigious Debsirin Nonthaburi school northwest of Bangkok. Nine people were in a critical condition, the Thai health department said. Continue reading...

Profit jump fuelled largely by unknown US refund amount as Japanese video game firm records quarterly sales drop Nintendo has reported a jump in profits, as the Japanese game maker’s earnings were buoyed up by a long-awaited refund on Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company said profits surged 53.5% to ¥147.4bn (£694m) over the three months to June, substantially beating expert forecasts for ¥77.8bn. Continue reading...

Coffee chain has faced backlash over marketing promotion tied to anniversary of Gwangju massacre South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement. Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks Korea executives. Continue reading...

Snow falls in Wellington for the first time in 15 years while snow blanketed Dunedin and Christchurch on the country’s south island Temperatures have plummeted across New Zealand as an Antarctic cold snap hovers over the country, delighting the capital, Wellington, which experienced snow for the first time in 15 years, while giving a southern city’s residents a chance to ski through the streets. The front moved in on Tuesday, with much of the country waking to freezing conditions, frosts, snowfall, hail and bitingly cold wind. Continue reading...

Wagering inducements in focus after explosive Senate hearings last week. Follow updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coalition demands NDIS changes focus on fraud, corruption Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson also called on the government to focus more on fraud and corruption issues in the NDIS, as the Coalition and Labor negotiate on changes to the disability scheme. We have people who are awarding either packages to people when they shouldn’t be used, we’re having people taking advantage of the system and we know this is being exposed. And so as a consequence we’ve

Sources say Albanese government willing to tighten rules on betting inducements but less likely to budge on TV and online advertisements Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government is prepared to tighten rules on gambling inducements, but is less likely to budge on advertising rules, as negotiations continue on wagering legislation, which so far has lacked the support needed to pass parliament. Federal Labor is open to considering amendments to its legislation from the Coalition when MPs return to Canberra this week, sources

Planes narrowly avoid collision on tarmac with Jetstar A320 forced to ‘brake firmly’ as Qatar Boeing 777 towed into its path Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two planes have narrowly avoided a collision on the tarmac of Australia’s busiest airport as it struggles with staff shortages. The Jetstar and Qatar Airways planes almost collided at Sydney airport at 7am on Sunday. Continue reading...

Yolŋu hip-hop artist dominates, while Butchulla duo and cousins Birdz and Fred Leone win artist of the year and Drifting Clouds takes home best new talent Baker Boy has won album, song and film clip of the year at the 2026 National Indigenous music awards (Nimas) , paying tribute to his late grandmother who his sophomore album, Djandjay , is named for. The Yolŋu hip-hop artist, whose name is Danzal Baker, won three awards for Djandjay, including song of the year and film clip of the year for its hit single Thick Skin, which features Indigenous artists Thelma Plum, Emma

Advocates and legal bodies want the debt to be made ‘out of bounds’ given how hard it is to determine its accuracy Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Centrelink is pursuing $4.93bn in unpaid debts, with the oldest dating back more than 40 years, despite the government agreeing to implement a six-year statute of limitations on debt recovery. A growing list of advocates, including peak legal body Economic Justice Australia, want the debts wiped, while Australia’s leading welfare expert has warned it is impossible to

Warning of increased activity as patrols spent 21 days in July shadowing Moscow’s ships in Dover Strait and North Sea The Royal Navy has warned of increasing Russian activity around the UK’s waters after it spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships. Naval operations to monitor Russian vessels increased by 25% last month compared with the previous year, with warships making repeated voyages through the strait of Dover and the North Sea. Continue reading...

Britain’s spooks take quiet satisfaction from survey ranking Secret Intelligence Service Europe’s top espionage agency MI6 has the swagger of James Bond; its French equivalent, DGSE, the complexities of the television drama Le Bureau. The film and TV shows may be fictional, but a survey run by a French magazine that placed the British spy agency above the French as No 1 across all of Europe this week is not. L’Express , a news weekly, conducted a Eurovision-style poll of 60 current and former spies from across the continent, plus the CIA and Israel’s Mossad. Each was asked to rank

Unexploded ordnance and a military motorcycle also recovered following record heat and drought conditions Record-low water levels in the Danube have exposed remnants of Europe’s Nazi past, with dozens of second world war ships emerging from the riverbed during an intense drought. In the middle of the river on the Serbian and Romanian border, a broken-up hull was visible on a sandbank that is normally underwater. Other vessels were partly submerged, some still believed to be laden with weapons. Continue reading...

European Aquatics Championships taking place in city Threat to water quality tested two years after Games Paris is staging its first high-diving competition in the Seine, with athletes launching themselves from a 20-metre platform in front of the Eiffel Tower – a spectacular new test of the city’s effort to reclaim its river for sport. The event on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim has also exposed the fragility of that ambition. Organisers suspended training on Thursday when traces of hydrocarbons were detected upstream. By Friday, the French Swimming Federation said the affected area had been treated, allowing athletes to return to

Somosierra will be prime spot to view celestial alignment on 12 August, an event that poses logistical challenges Little stirs in the mountains above Somosierra beyond the wind that lashes the flat peaks, the cows that graze on parched grass and the sun that beats down on the abandoned aerodrome where generations of glider pilots learned to ride air currents alongside squadrons of vultures and red kites. But all this stillness will disappear, albeit temporarily, on the evening of 12 August, when swathes of northern and eastern Spain and the Balearic islands experience a total solar eclipse , the likes

Tehran urges US to ‘correct its behaviour’ as UAE says one of its ships targeted by Iranian missile Iran has issued tough new demands for reopening the strait of Hormuz, while the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach on Saturday. Iran’s politburo-like body known as the supreme national security council said the strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behaviour”, and its state broadcaster published a statement from the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who

The US president’s profound ignorance of his enemy has led to an impotent cycle of empty threats, analysts say Being the subject of mockery may be the most intense of all Donald Trump’s known aversions. Yet more than five months after embarking on a war of choice against Iran, the US president risks attracting ridicule as he struggles to secure a military victory – while repeatedly threatening devastating bombardment against the Tehran regime, only to back down on the pretext of renewed negotiations. Continue reading...

Yinon Levy charged with manslaughter in first exception this decade to culture of impunity for Israelis who kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank Prosecutors in Israel have indicted an extremist settler for shooting a Palestinian activist last July, the first attempt this decade to hold an Israeli responsible for killing a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank. Yinon Levy, who was under western sanctions, is charged with manslaughter over the death of Awdeh Hathaleen, an English teacher and peace activist. In his last moments, Hathaleen filmed the settler drawing his weapon and opening fire towards him. Continue reading...

By dragging out talks, Tehran aims to damage the US president politically – but some fear a bruised and weakened Trump could lash back Tehran has set out a protracted negotiating timetable designed to keep Donald Trump embroiled in the Iran conflict until the midterm elections, in the hope of inflicting the same ruinous blow on his presidency as Jimmy Carter suffered over the 1979-81 US embassy hostage crisis. For many inside Iran, inflicting meaningful revenge on Trump is a legitimate and self-standing war aim, reflected in the mood of those attending the funeral of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei

This live blog is now closed. Understanding reached on coordinates for shipping route through Hormuz, Iran says Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza , has finally issued its first construction contract in the devastated territory: a project to build a rudimentary 150-person military outpost to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian. The contract, which has not yet been finalised, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based firm that has previously carried out work with the US government in countries such as Iraq. Continue

Dhaka accuses India of giving platform to a ‘convicted genocider’ by allowing Sheikh Hasina to address journalists Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low. Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”. Continue reading...

Tarun Tejpal, ex-editor of Tehelka magazine, was initially acquitted in 2021 in case that drew nationwide attention An Indian court has sentenced a high-profile former editor of an investigative news magazine to 10 years in prison after convicting him of raping a junior colleague, overturning his acquittal in a case that drew nationwide attention. Tarun Tejpal, 63, the founder and former editor of Tehelka magazine, was accused of raping a journalist in the lift of a five-star hotel in the western coastal state of Goa during an event in November 2013. He was arrested and spent seven months in jail

Sheikh Hasina plans a December comeback two years after being ousted in a bloody uprising led by students Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by the end of the year, even though she faces a death sentence. “They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go,” said Hasina, two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Continue reading...

Rules brought in soon after killing of dozens of protesters, news of which was reported only by overseas outlets Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations. According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere in Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Continue reading...

Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting any wrongdoing at station The alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with learning disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest ever disciplinary actions against its police force. The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and

Exclusive: Lack of funds left British museums unable pay eight-figure sum for collection, which went to Abu Dhabi institution One of the most important collections of UK Jurassic fossils ever compiled has been sold to a museum in Abu Dhabi, the Guardian can reveal, in what British experts have described as a loss for the nation. The collection, which was amassed by a private fossil collector, consisted of 318 specimens, including ichthyosaurs, fish and crustaceans among other creatures, some of which could be new species. Continue reading...

When, where and how to get the optimal view of the first solar eclipse to be visible across the country this century For the first time this century, people across the UK will be able to see an almost total solar eclipse in the evening sky on Wednesday. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun’s light either partly or fully. This year, people in the UK and Ireland will see 90-96% of the sun covered by the moon for the first time since 1999 – and it’s their last chance

Scotland’s former first minister says she will not visit Murrell in prison, where he is serving five-year sentence for embezzling SNP funds Nicola Surgeon has said she will not visit her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, in prison, has stopped speaking to him and views herself as a “mug” for worrying about his wellbeing and mental health earlier this year. During a podcast recording at the Edinburgh festival fringe, Scotland’s former first minister said Murrell had lied to her until the day he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National party. Continue reading...

Observers express concern that the division has lost its independence and commercial reality has taken over When Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a “pivotal moment in human history” last month, he knew another big change was imminent. This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his day-to-day duties as chief executive and becoming chair. He is also taking on the role of chief scientist at DeepMind’s parent, Alphabet. Continue reading...

Asked whether he targeted reporter who investigated party finances, Brexit campaigner says: ‘When you live by the sword, you die by the sword’ The prominent Reform UK member and Brexit campaigner Arron Banks is said to have set private investigators on a Sunday Times journalist after he broke a series of stories about Nigel Farage. Banks is alleged to have paid for the services of investigators to examine Gabriel Pogrund, editor of the paper’s Insight investigations team. Continue reading...

Officials did not identify the pilots but said they were employed by Helicopter Transport Services, which was contracted by US Forest Service Two helicopter pilots who crashed while they were fighting a wildfire in Utah have died, officials confirmed Saturday. The pilots were killed when their Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter went down Friday morning, according to the Sevier County Sheriff. The helicopter was among those fighting a fire in the Fishlake National Forest. The crash ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze, which has now scorched nearly 174 square miles (nearly 451skm). Continue reading...

Weather system tied to warming sea surface expected to intensify in fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027 El Niño , a recurring climate phenomenon marked by above-average sea surface temperatures, when changes in wind patterns allow warmer water to spread across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could spell a wet winter for portions of the western and south-eastern US, climate models show. Coastal areas may be at elevated risk of flooding, experts warn. Climate scientists predict this year’s “super” El Niño, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C , will be the

Joe Biden’s prostate cancer is reportedly ‘debilitating’, even as ex-president continues to speak out on public issues Former US president Joe Biden ’s prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, even as he continues to speak out on public issues, his son Hunter said in an interview. In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father’s condition, describing it as very sad to watch. Continue reading...

Senate minority leader condemns Republicans after Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer confirmed by 50 votes to 49 early on Saturday morning. This blog is now closed. Joe Biden ’s prostate cancer has spread throughout his body, causing the former president great pain, his son Hunter Biden said during an interview broadcast Friday. “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said in a sit-down with the BBC . “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.” Continue reading...

Agent found to be able to find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, and to carry out cyber-attacks OpenAI will pause some work on an artificial intelligence model because of security concerns, the company stated on Friday, following a series of incidents in which AI agents have escaped containment. The company had evaluated the agent, Astra, and found “significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity”, which had moved to a “critical” threshold where it can find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, or devise and execute cyber-attacks when given only a “high level desired goal”. Continue reading...

Kosovo’s parliament had to be suspended on Saturday after an opposition lawmaker pelted caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti with eggs, as a long-running political crisis threatens to trigger another snap election. Europe’s youngest democracy has faced three elections in less than two years, with successive parliaments collapsing under deep political divisions. Kurti, who has been in days-long negotiations with opposition parties over a new president, attempted to delay a key vote when MP Time...

The United Arab Emirates on Saturday said Iran had targeted a tanker belonging to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge users for passage, which the US fiercely opposes, and is in talks with nearby Oman over arrangements for the strait’s future management. The UAE foreign ministry in a statement condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack that targeted a...

Following Italy’s rejection of its ultimatum to lift the border checks imposed in response to the Ceuta migration crisis, Spain has in turn announced that it will carry out checks on travellers from Italy. From midnight on Saturday, travellers from Italy would initially be subject to random checks at ports and airports until September 7, Spanish state broadcaster RTVE reported, citing a decree issued by the Madrid government. The checks are intended to verify the identity and nationality of...

Four people, including a child, were killed in Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the surrounding region, local officials said on Saturday, as Ukraine hit another oil refinery in Russia. Residents endure regular drone and missile barrages that Kyiv’s depleted air defences are struggling to counter amid Moscow’s four-year-old full-scale invasion, while repeated Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities have caused fuel shortages and rattled Russians. Two grandparents and their...

Amazon has confirmed it is financing a massive, private gas power plant in Texas that could become the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. It is the latest example of tech giants going off the grid to get their AI operations online faster. The news was first reported by market intelligence company Cleanview, which reviewed satellite imagery to connect three data centre construction permits filed this week by Amazon to the gas plant, which is being developed by...

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones at displacement camps and residential neighbourhoods in the city of Marib on Friday, killing two people and wounding 14, state news agency SABA reported, citing local authorities. Yemen’s army said early on Saturday it had responded against Houthi forces on several fronts. The army did not give details of the operations or say when they took place but said it would respond to any further targeting of its units with what it...

Palestinian Christians call themselves “living stones” and say they have lived continuously in the Holy Land for the last 2,000 years. Maybe not for much longer, believes Reverend Mitri Raheb. “If the current conditions continue, there will not be a single Palestinian Christian left by 2050,” said Raheb, founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ. Faced with growing uncertainty over economic and security conditions, hundreds of...

Sensing frustration among many Russians towards the Ukraine war, Russia’s liberal Yabloko party is hoping to use parliamentary elections this September to raise its profile, casting itself as the only opposition group in favour of a ceasefire. Elections in Russia are tightly controlled – every parliamentary vote since 2003 has been won by the ruling “United Russia” party, which supports President Vladimir Putin. Yabloko is unlikely to win any seats. A poll conducted earlier this year showed it...

Debate over the price of a burrito is causing indigestion for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, which fears being punished for the high cost of living in November’s midterm elections. The Mexican speciality – rice, beans, meat and other toppings wrapped in a tortilla – is beloved by many Americans as a comforting, filling and inexpensive meal. Not any more, argues Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA. “One of our TPUSA college students...

The football that Diego Maradona used to score his infamous “Hand of God” goal during Argentina’s win over England in the 1986 World Cup is expected to sell for US$10 million at a US auction this month. Maradona’s goal in the quarter-final match at the Estadio Azteca saw him punch the ball past the England goalkeeper, with the South Americans ultimately winning 2-1. After the game, the Argentine star said his goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”....

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, vowing to wage war on drug-running guerrillas and usher in a new era of close ties with the United States. The flamboyant former lawyer brings a lurch to the right for the Andean nation, vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega prisons” and slash the size of the state. De la Espriella and his Vice-President Jose Manuel Restrepo cheered, embraced and performed their campaign’s characteristic military salute after taking their...

US President ⁠Donald Trump is renewing his effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, keeping alive his assault on the central bank’s independence even after the US Supreme Court in June dealt him a significant setback in his bid to remove her earlier this year, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The White House told Cook in a letter this week that the president was “considering” removing her from her role and demanded she respond to unproven mortgage fraud allegations within three...

The US Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche, 52, as attorney general, elevating President Donald Trump’s one-time personal defence lawyer to lead the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Friday he would back Todd Blanche for attorney general, clearing a path for Trump’s nominee after weeks of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s independence from the White House. Cassidy had emerged as the probable deciding vote after Republican Senator Lisa...

Ukrainian President Zelensky and populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on Saturday agreed to build cooperation despite Belgrade’s long-standing close ties with Moscow. The future path of both countries towards EU membership was also on the agenda at the talks in Belgrade between Zelensky – who was making his first visit to the capital – and Vučić. Military cooperation with Kyiv was not discussed, Vučić stressed at a joint press briefing. He also denied reports that Serbia intended to build...

China’s UnionPay International plans to connect Chinese payment apps to Pix, the Brazilian payment system at the centre of Washington’s trade case against Brasilia, allowing Chinese tourists to pay by scanning a code. Under the pilot, users of the UnionPay app and of Chinese bank apps linked to its platform would scan a merchant’s code and pay from the account they use at home. Chinese state media reported that access would later extend to other digital wallets in UnionPay’s global network. Pix...

A US federal appeal court ordered Donald Trump’s administration on Friday to stop construction on a US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority. “Each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House” and cannot fundamentally reshape it without congressional approval, the Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a...

The US economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July, government data showed, a blow to US President Donald Trump’s claims of leading an economic revival as his Republican Party gears up for crucial midterm elections.. The unemployment rate in the world’s largest economy ticked down to 4.1 per cent, according to data published on Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since taking office for his second term, Trump has unleashed a spate of policies aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing...

“Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This famous 11th thesis from Karl Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach is engraved on his tombstone in Highgate Cemetery in London. It was meant to be a refutation of another famous saying, by G.W.F. Hegel: “The owl of Minerva takes flight only when darkness falls.” This poetic but enigmatic remark is from the Philosophy of Right. It means understanding always arrives too late; philosophy can only teach...

A bus driver knocked an explosive-laden drone out of the air, potentially preventing an attack this week at a German airport that serves as a major Nato and cargo logistics hub, a senior lawmaker said ‌on Friday. The man spotted the drone flying low while he was working at Leipzig/Halle airport late on Tuesday, then kicked out at it in what Detlef Seif described as a courageous but dangerous act. The drone, which prosecutors said was equipped with professional explosives and a detonator, then...

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim US allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters. Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the US and Israel attacked it on February 28 in a major escalation of years of regional tumult. The “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” is intended to strengthen collective...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China hits back at US with barrage of sanctions, drone industry curbs China has hit back against a round of US sanctions with a barrage of counter-sanctions targeting a group of American entities and a tightening of export...

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years. The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and supporter of the internationally recognised Yemeni government. The evolving regional situation has...

A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state’s claims that the social media giant created a “public nuisance” and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay US$375 million in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms. “We disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” Meta said in a statement Thursday. “We work...

Iran will seek to bar US and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they’re allowed to sail through it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway. The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy flows that have been throttled since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February. “That’s clearly not going to go down well in Washington,” said...

A US woman from the Atlanta area is alleging that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labelling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her lawyers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labelled as belonging to Barksdale, who at age 43 then underwent a full hysterectomy on May 15,...

Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Thursday that he had been discharged from a rehabilitation centre and would continue his recovery from home. The former Senate leader was first admitted to hospital on June 14. He disclosed weeks later that his hospitalisation was the result of a fall and said he was undergoing physiotherapy. McConnell, 84, gave no specific date for his return to the Capitol, but senators are expected to soon leave Washington for the traditional August...

A British sociologist who became famous as the youngest black professor ever at the University of Cambridge has resigned after the university opened an investigation into “new information” about his academic qualifications. Professor Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became a Cambridge professor in 2023, announced his decision late on Wednesday following weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising...

Argentina has renewed its currency swap with China for five years, preserving a US$19 billion lifeline that Washington spent more than a year pressing it to give up. The Argentine central bank and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) signed the extension of the 130 billion yuan line on Wednesday, a day before the existing deal was due to expire. The new term runs to 2031, two years longer than any previous renewal since the two countries first signed it in 2009. The decision ends months of...

China has ⁠bought at least another ⁠10 cargoes of US soybeans, three ⁠Asian traders said on Thursday, the latest in a flurry of purchases ahead of President Xi Jinping’s expected US visit next month. State-run buyer Sinograin bought 10 to 15 cargoes on Wednesday, the traders said. At least 10 cargoes were ‌for October-November shipment, one trader said. The deals follow trade talks between Washington and Beijing that, according to the White House, included Chinese commitments to buy 25 million...

Congolese health authorities were screening more than 300 people ⁠travelling on a ⁠river boat intercepted near Kinshasa on ⁠Thursday after the death of a passenger suspected of having Ebola raised concerns the virus may have spread on board, officials said. Authorities deployed a mobile laboratory to the vessel after it was stopped in Maluku, around 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital on Wednesday. The secretary general of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry, Body Ilonga...

The United States sanctioned Cuba’s senior military representative in Beijing on Thursday, accusing him of helping procure military-related equipment from China for the island’s armed forces. Waldo Perez Cortes, Cuba’s military, naval and air attache in Beijing, was among six Cuban nationals and five entities added to the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. The US State Department said Perez Cortes was an official of Cuba’s Ministry of the...

A US Senate committee voted on Thursday to ⁠hold Dr. Anthony Fauci ⁠in contempt of Congress after the former ⁠top US infectious disease official refused to answer questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a referral pushed by its Republican Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky, a long-time Fauci antagonist, on a party-line vote of 8-7. The vote followed a hearing ‌last week where Fauci, who is 85 and retired in 2022, invoked...

Britain on Thursday gave the green light to Paramount Skydance’s US$110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, as the entertainment and media mega-deal still faces a key hurdle in the United States. The UK government and the antitrust watchdog both cleared the deal after initially raising concerns over media plurality and competition, respectively. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the takeover would not weaken competition in film distribution, children’s TV and...

A German court on Thursday handed an Afghan man a life sentence for a car-ramming attack in Munich last year which killed a two-year-old girl and her mother and left dozens injured. The court in Munich found the man, named only as Farhad N., guilty of two counts of murder, 23 of attempted murder, and 22 counts of bodily harm, 19 of them serious. The court found that the offences carried a “particular gravity of guilt” – a designation that makes it much less likely that 25-year-old Farhad N. will...

A gunman killed a social media influencer during a live stream in Mexico’s volatile northwestern state of Sinaloa, authorities said on Wednesday, a public killing that underscored ongoing violence targeting social media personalities in the Latin American nation. The influencer, Cesar Gastelum, was killed on Tuesday night in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan, officials said. Mexican authorities implied the killing of the young man was linked to cartel violence but did not blame any...

Britain’s new Labour government is trying to reassure Southeast Asia that its push to rebuild ties with Europe will not come at the region’s expense, analysts have said, after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband made an Asean meeting in Manila his first overseas stop. Appointed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on July 20, Miliband attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ Meeting about 48 hours after taking office – a choice observers said pointed less to a policy reset than...

The United States is staring a historic “strategic defeat” in the face five months after launching the Iran war at Israel’s behest, according to Middle East observers. The Islamic Republic is unlikely to fully relinquish its new-found hegemony over the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump’s rhetorical mix of daily ultimatums and optimism about a deal, they say. Doing so would be giving up its leverage over the global economy – by far its greatest weapon in a war it cannot win...

When Russia fires a ballistic missile at Ukraine, air-defence systems have only minutes – sometimes seconds – to detect and intercept the deadly threat. The lack of time has left Kyiv and other cities increasingly exposed to devastating attacks by the missiles that come down so fast and so steeply that Ukraine says only the US-made Patriot defence system can stop them. But Ukraine says it has too few batteries and interceptors to protect itself. Unlike cruise missiles, which behave like...

The UK’s new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, was confronted with his past criticism of “racist” Donald Trump as he held talks in Washington with his US counterpart Marco Rubio. Miliband ignored questions about whether he still thought the president was an “idiot, a racist and a misogynist” as he met with the US top diplomat. Miliband was invited to the US capital by Rubio after their recent first meeting on the sidelines of a foreign ministers’ summit in the Philippines last month. The pair were...

The director of a factory supplying drones to the Russian military was badly wounded and his driver was killed when the car they were in exploded, news reports said on Wednesday. The state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said that Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalised in grave condition following the explosion late Tuesday in Bolshoy Istok just outside Yekaterinburg, 1,400km (about 870 miles) east of Moscow. There was no immediate comment from the authorities. Tkachuk headed the Uraldronzavod factory...

The Federal Aviation Administration said a military helicopter carrying President Donald Trump on Tuesday was briefly too close to a passenger jet departing Reagan Washington National Airport, ‌but the US leader was not in danger. The incident raised serious questions about why the passenger plane was allowed to depart while Marine One was nearby, a time when commercial traffic is typically halted. Following a January 2025 crash between a military helicopter and a commercial jet that killed 67...

The Democratic Party’s progressive ⁠wing scored a high-profile victory on Wednesday when Abdul El-Sayed won the party’s US Senate nomination ⁠in Michigan, giving its anti-establishment message a boost ahead of November’s midterm elections. El-Sayed, a doctor whose campaign focused on healthcare, the economy and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel, was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that US President Donald Trump carried in 2024. He will face Republican...

Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and were finalising arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway, Tehran said on Wednesday, even as fresh security incidents highlighted continued risks for regional shipping. The agreement would be a step towards reopening the key energy route, but official sources briefing Iranian media stressed that any easing still hinged on Washington ending its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran has exercised de...

Scientists have captured images of the sun’s surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. It is dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when...

A woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden in central London on Wednesday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police said the four men, aged 34, 39, 42 and 52, were found with stab wounds. No further update has been given on the extent of their injuries. The 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault, the force added. She was taken into custody, where she remains. The stabbing is believed to have been a mental health-related...

Mr. Miller, who has faced pressure from fellow Republicans to end his campaign and avoid endangering a solidly red seat in Ohio, will stay in the race, his spokeswoman said.

Brian Poindexter, an ironworker, is in the spotlight in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, where Mr. Miller faces multiple calls to step aside.

Senator Darline Graham, who took her brother’s place after his death and is now seeking to succeed him, has mostly declined to answer questions from reporters at the Capitol.

Inspired by Ukraine’s battlefield gains, Taiwan is betting on drones to deter a potential Chinese invasion.

The genre-straddling musician could have been lost to addiction and trauma. Instead he’s filling arenas.

Where does the side of the angels really lie?

In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Biden said that former President Joseph R. ⁠Biden Jr.’s prostate cancer had spread into his bones and was causing pain.