Minimalist News

What Might Transatlantic Security Look Like If The US Leaves NATO? Authored by Andrew Korybko, If NATO as a whole remains more or less intact upon the US’ hypothetical exit, and the US then reaches bilateral security deals with Poland, the Baltic States, and Turkiye, then not much would change from Russia’s perspective. Trump’s latest talk about the US leaving NATO is being taken seriously by many Europeans owing to his rage over their refusal to help him reopen the Strait of Hormuz, not to mention them denying the US access to its own bases on their territory and even their airspace for use in the Third

Has Concern Over Hormuz Made Us Forget The Red Sea? Authored by Gregory Copley via The Epoch Times, Wartime concerns about the security of maritime energy traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—connecting the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf—have overshadowed the fact that the related issue of Red Sea security is far from resolved and is, in fact, becoming more dynamic. The Red Sea–Suez link between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean is of equal strategic importance to global trade as the Hormuz choke point and is, through geography and common players, intrinsically linked with the Persian Gulf conflict. But it is

America Dependent On Chinese Electrical Parts For AI Build-Out The race for U.S. leadership in AI is hitting a tangible wall made of steel, copper, and imported circuit breakers. Trillions in planned spending on data centers are running up against chronic shortages of transformers, switchgear, and batteries, the unglamorous gear that actually delivers power to the racks.  > AI Takeover Complete: Data Center Construction Surpasses Office Construction For The First Time https://t.co/g5WxE9glY3 > > — zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 27, 2026 Domestic production has not scaled anywhere near fast enough, leaving developers with little choice but to lean on overseas suppliers, predominantly from China. The

Forget Minnesota - The Amount Of Fraud Uncovered In California Is Staggering Authored by Christopher F. Rufo, Ryan Thrope, Kenneth Schrupp & Haley Strack via City Journal, California is a cash machine. The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year. And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart. The roads are crumbling. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones. And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of

Colorado Forces Lawyers To Swear They Won't Help Feds Nab Illegals Lawyers in the Mile High State are now being strong-armed by Democrats into signing a radical anti-immigration-enforcement pledge just to do their jobs. Starting March 30, 2026, every private attorney logging into Colorado’s official Courts E-Filing system (CCE) must certify - under penalty of perjury - that they will never use or share non-public personal information from court records to assist federal immigration authorities. Refuse? You’re shut out of the system entirely. No filing lawsuits, no checking case files, no representing clients in state court. Period. The certification reads in part: “I certify under

Micro AI Sentry Guns May Be Next Layer Of Defense For Data Centers Against Kamikaze Drones Submitted by Cameron Rowe, Co-Founder and CEO of Sentradel,  Most people don’t think about what the “cloud” actually is. It’s a physical building full of servers storing everything from your medical records to your social media. Every Google search, every ChatGPT query, every hospital pulling up your health history routes through a data center. Right now, those buildings have about as much aerial protection as your local Costco. In March 2026, Iranian Shahed drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Multiple availability zones went

February Net Trailer Orders Down 43% As Bookings Fall 26% Preliminary February net trailer orders fell by about 10,000 units from January’s 23,300, a 43% month-over-month decline, according to TheTrucker.com. “Sequentially, a drop in net orders was expected, as the industry transitions from the strongest to the weakest order months of the annual cycle,” said Jennifer McNealy, director CV market research & publications at ACT Research. “Trailer makers now will begin to take fewer orders and start to work down the backlog that grew during the peak of order season at the end of the previous year, which in this year’s cycle started

FBI Issues Public Alert On Americans Using Foreign Apps Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The FBI identified data security risks from foreign-developed mobile apps used in the United States, the agency warned in a March 31 public service announcement. In this photo illustration, a hacker types on a computer keyboard on May 13, 2025. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times “As of early 2026, many of the most downloaded and top-grossing apps in the United States are developed and maintained by foreign companies, particularly those based in China,” the FBI said, without naming any apps. “The apps that maintain digital infrastructure in

High Taxes, Power Bill Crisis Send Maryland Gov. Moore's Poll Numbers To Record Low Left-wing Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s approval rating has slid to a new record low as the Democrat darling, seen as Soros-friendly and as having aspirations to become the Democratic Party’s 2028 nominee, increasingly looks dimmer by the month. Moore and Alex Soros.  Moore’s approval rating tumbled to 48% for the first time since he took office two years ago, as the Democratic Party is likely freaking out that even in one of the bluest states in America, ruled by the kings and queens of the progressive party in a

It's Past Time To Privatize The Post Office Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance A new piece from the Cato Institute lays out how bad things have gotten at the post office, arguing that the United States Postal Service is facing a severe and worsening financial crisis. According to the article, USPS has been losing billions of dollars annually for well over a decade and is now at a point where it cannot realistically fix its problems without major structural changes. I could have told you this after the horror show I lived through at the post office back in September of 2025. The USPS now is the predictable

Tiger Woods Flexes Call With Trump Before DUI Arrest; Pardon Odds Remain Low Bodycam footage shows Tiger Woods telling local authorities on Jupiter Island that he spoke with President Trump shortly after he flipped his Land Rover SUV and was arrested for DUI. "You got it. Thank you, bye... I was just talking to the President," Woods told a local police officer seen in the bodycam footage. The officer was asking Woods to remain on the scene. Bodycam video was obtained by the New York Post. > Tiger Woods flexes his call with Trump to law enforcement after DUI: > > "You got it.

DOJ Is Done Releasing Epstein Files Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news, In a move sparking fresh skepticism among Americans demanding full accountability, the new acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has declared the Jeffrey Epstein files chapter closed. This came just hours after President Trump reassigned Pam Bondi, with Blanche - Trump’s former personal attorney - stepping in as acting AG and signaling it’s time to move on from the scandal. “The DOJ has now released ALL the files with respect to the Epstein saga,” Blanche stated on Fox News. He added, “I think that to the extent the Epstein files was a

Second US Warplane Lost: A-10 Warthog Crashes Near Hormuz Shortly After F-15 Shootdown Update(1535ET): Friday has witnessed a sudden spate of disasters for the US Air Force over Iran. The downed F-15 situation is still ongoing, there are unconfirmed reports a Blackhawk helicopter may have been shot down, and now the NYT is confirming an A-10 Warthog crashed in the Persian Gulf region: > A second Air Force combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.  The A-10

Hegseth: Military Bases Are No Longer Gun-Free Zones Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.ocm, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has overturned the controversial rule banning firearms from military installations. Up until now, it was nearly impossible for servicemen to obtain permission to carry personal firearms on military posts and bases.  That is about the change. “Not all enemies are foreign, nor are they all outside our borders,” said Hegseth in an April 2 video. “Some are domestic. Confirming your God-given right to self protection is what I'm signing into action today. And I'm proud to do so.” > Our military installations have been turned into gun-free

Trump Proposes $1.5 Trillion In War Spending, 'Largest In Decades' Via The Cradle US President Donald Trump is asking Congress to boost military spending to $1.5 trillion for 2027, the largest such request in decades, while demanding cuts to domestic spending on social programs, AP reported Friday. The White House released details of the desired spending increase on Friday as part of Trump's 2027 budget proposal. The proposal comes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, which is costing US taxpayers over $11 billon for each week it continues. US Army/AP image Last month, the Pentagon proposed receiving an additional $200 billion to backfill munitions and supplies used in the

Acting AG Todd Blanche: Investigating ActBlue Allegations Is A Top Priority The Democratic Party's premier fundraising machine is in serious legal jeopardy, and the new man running the Justice Department just made clear he intends to do something about it. The New York Times reported on Thursday that ActBlue’s own lawyers had warned its leadership in early 2025 that it may have lied to Congress about how it screens out illegal foreign donations.  In 2023, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones sent a letter to Republican congressional investigators assuring them the platform used rigorous safeguards. The letter described "multilayered" screenings that helped "root out" overseas

Oil Shocks & Recessionary Outcomes Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, After more than three decades of watching oil markets upend economies, one pattern keeps repeating: investors learn the wrong lessons from the last shock. The 1973 OPEC embargo taught us that geopolitical disruptions are temporary. That lesson then got everyone killed, financially speaking, in 1979. The 2003 Iraq War produced only a mild oil bump and no recession, so traders got comfortable. Then 2008 happened. Today, with Brent crude having spiked over 60% since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February, the same dangerous reasoning is circulating again.

Senior Iranian Official Involved In Reaching Out To Vance Severely Wounded In Airstrike A top Iranian official who was involved in diplomatic outreach and indirect talks or messaging with the United States and Pakistani mediators was reportedly critically wounded in a US-Israeli strike. Kamal Kharazi, an 81-year-old senior adviser to Tehran and former foreign minister, lost his wife in the Wednesday strike on his home, state media has said. Kharazi chairs Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and has been viewed as a potential backchannel negotiator involving Islamabad, but now he's been hospitalized with serious injuries, state media has also said. "We have

Poison Ivey: Chicago Bulls Release Forward After He Speaks Out Against Pride Month Authored by Jonathan Turley, This week, the Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” No, Ivey did not assault anyone or gamble on games. He did not call for violence. Ivey expressed his opposing religious beliefs, including criticizing the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations. There is no question that private companies have the right to control employees’ on-the-job speech, including barring demonstrations such as kneeling during the national anthem. However, the Ivey controversy exposes the hypocrisy of sports associations and teams in the combination of corporate virtue signaling and athlete speech limitations. Companies in

Services Sector Contraction In March Screams Q1 Stagflation Following S&P Global's Manufacturing PMI's better than expected print higher (signaling resilience in the face of March's war in Iran), the data released this morning showed the US Services Sector experienced a contraction of activity at the end of the first quarter of 2026. The headline S&P Global US Services PMI Business Activity Index recorded 49.8 in March, down from February’s 51.7 and lower than the earlier ‘flash’ estimate of 51.1. It was the first decline recorded in over three years amid the weakest rise in new work since April 2024. > “The PMI survey data

Despite hostile rhetoric Trump let a Russian ship break his blockade – could it herald a Venezuela-style outcome? When a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, docked at Cuba’s Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, unloading 700,000 barrels of crude, it was not immediately clear why the ship had been allowed to pass through Donald Trump’s oil blockade. In January, the US president had proclaimed on social media: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” yet last week he told reporters, “If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no

Initial reports suggested parts of arena’s wall had collapsed, but Alianza Lima says there were no structural failures One person has been killed and dozens more injured at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium in Lima, Peru, according to the football club Alianza Lima. Hundreds of fans were attending a “flag-waving event” on Friday around the stadium, a day before a derby match between the home team Alianza Lima and local rivals Universitario de Deportes. Continue reading...

Havana makes a Holy Week ‘humanitarian’ gesture as Russian tanker is allowed to reach oil-starved island * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Cuban authorities have begun to free prisoners after announcing they would pardon 2,010 inmates, the second release in less than a month as the country faces heightened US pressure. More than 20 inmates emerged from La Lima penitentiary in east Havana on Friday, holding their release papers, crying and hugging relatives who had been waiting for them all morning. Continue reading...

Tania Warner is fitted with ankle monitor and released along with seven-year-old daughter Ayla Luca after being deemed not a flight risk A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter, who were held for nearly three weeks in a notorious detention center by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were released on Thursday evening after posting a bond of $9,500. Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca, originally from British Columbia, are both Canadian citizens. Warner moved to the US in 2021 when she married Edward Warner, a US citizen. “Very happy to have my family home … it’s been a whirlwind day,”

A Radio-Canada reporter noticed his maple syrup tasted odd; testing revealed it was adulterated with cane sugar An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a major Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the fraudulent product to grocery chains. In a sting operation that involved false identities and covert recordings, journalists from Radio-Canada’s Enquête programme found that a low-cost syrup sold in major grocery store chains was heavily diluted. Continue reading...

From farms in New Zealand to factories in Delhi, the effects of the oil crisis triggered by the Iran war are rippling across Asia Continue reading...

Quake with epicentre west-north-west of Ternate island shakes cities and prompts regional tsunami warning One person has been killed after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Ternate island, damaging buildings and triggering small tsunami waves. The quake, which had a depth of 35km, occurred on Thursday at 6.48am local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. Its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-north-west of Ternate, an island in Indonesia’s North Maluku province. Continue reading...

Agreement comes after Wellington halted millions in aid to its former colony after Cook Islands formed strategic partnership with Beijing New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a defence and security declaration, ending a year-long diplomatic row that erupted after the Cook Islands struck strategic agreements with China. The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-65 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in “free association” with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations to regularly consult on matters of defence and security. Continue reading...

Distressed riders who were stranded for hours say Apollo Go customer service agents offered ‘useless platitudes’ A “system malfunction” has caused several self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China, police have confirmed, after distressed riders were stranded for hours. Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said they began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by the Chinese internet company Baidu had frozen. Continue reading...

South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants Governments across Asia are ramping up their use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as they try to cover huge energy shortfalls triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The move has triggered warnings from climate experts who point to coal’s devastating environmental impact, and say the energy crisis should be a wake up call for governments to invest in renewables, which can offer a more stable supply that is not exposed to price shocks. Continue reading...

Previously unreleased report obtained via freedom of information battle says Pezzullo exceeded ‘boundaries of normal public service practice’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The former head of the Department of Home Affairs’ engagement with a Liberal powerbroker was “reckless”, “ill-advised” and beyond the boundaries of normal public service practice, a previously unreleased confidential report found. The independent probe led to the sacking of Michael Pezzullo as secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in November 2023 after it concluded he had breached the government’s code of conduct at least 14 times. This included using his

Man and woman released pending further enquiries after arrests at separate properties in state’s north-east on Saturday morning Two people have been arrested as part of the investigation into how Porepunkah fugitive Dezi Freeman was able to survive on the run for seven months before he was shot dead on Monday. A man and a woman were arrested at separate properties in north-east Victoria on Saturday morning around 7am, before being later released. Continue reading...

Datacentres ‘directly competing’ with possible residential builds near public transport, one council tells NSW inquiry, amid growing concerns * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Datacentre developments are crowding out opportunities for housing and job-rich industries across Sydney, a New South Wales inquiry has heard, with one local council reporting a rise in blackouts linked to the industry’s expansion. Several Sydney councils, all facing an influx of datacentre developments, have raised concerns about the health, environmental and amenity impacts on their local communities in submissions to the state’s datacentre inquiry. Continue reading...

Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation. Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections. Continue reading...

The telco’s sweeping price changes and the closure of its cheaper ‘starter’ plan risk putting off many of its loyal customers Telstra has long traded on its claim to have better – and far more expansive – mobile coverage than its rivals to justify a steep pricing premium that has accelerated in recent years. But the telco’s latest changes, which include steep price hikes and the closure of its cheaper “starter” plan to new users, combined with a dramatic rejection of its coverage claims by the industry regulator, risk putting off many of its traditional customers, according to consumer advocates. Continue reading...

The rightwing populist has been in power for 16 years but a new generation of voters are preparing to vote for his opponent, polls suggest As he rushed to finish off his cigarette before heading to class, Ákos, 20, confessed that he has more at stake than most as Hungarians prepare to head to the polls in the coming days. “If things remain the same, or get even worse, I can’t see a future here,” said the aspiring teacher. “There are many people who want to try living elsewhere, and that’s totally fine, but I’m not one of them. For so long

Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say. Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays. Continue reading...

Riccione’s leftwing mayor, Daniela Angelini, says public purchase is victory for town and ‘act of love and vision’ An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of “fascist nostalgics”. Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy’s Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was “an act of love and vision” and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town. Continue reading...

Use of unmanned ground vehicles has grown exponentially since 2024 turning the war into a technological contest Victor Pavlov showed off Ukraine’s newest and most versatile weapon: a battery-powered land robot. The unmanned ground vehicles come in various shapes and sizes. One runs on caterpillar tracks and resembles a roofless milk float. Another has wheels and antennas. A third carries anti-tank mines. Since spring 2024 their use has grown exponentially. Continue reading...

Russian advances slowing, thinktank’s data shows; 14 killed in Ukraine in massive drone and missile salvo. What we know on day 1,501 Russia’s army recorded almost no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March for the first time in two-and-a-half years, according to analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) conducted by Agence France-Presse. The Russian army has been slowing in its advances since late 2025 – because of Kyiv’s localised breakthroughs in the south-east of the country. Across the entire frontline, the Russian army seized only 23 sq km (8.9 sq miles) in

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where plane came down in south-western Iran * ‘I’m regretting everything’: #MilitaryTok reactions to war stray from White House messaging Iran has executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, the judiciary said. The executions on Saturday were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were executed earlier in the week. Continue reading...

As Israel expands its invasion of southern Lebanon, people are having to bury their dead in temporary graves In Lebanon, the dead are usually given one last glimpse of their home town before they are laid to rest. Hoisted high above the heads of the living, their casket is slowly marched through the streets where they grew up. It is the hands of their loved ones that guide them into their final resting place, already dug, and gently sprinkle dirt on their body. Continue reading...

This blog is closed – our live coverage continues in a new blog here Authorities in Abu Dhabi have reported two incidents of debris falling from intercepted aerial threats in the UAE capital, with one sparking a fire at a gas facility, The official Abu Dhabi Media Office said authorities responded to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities. “Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire,” it said in a post on X, adding that no injuries were reported. Continue reading...

Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war * Middle East crisis – live updates One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over Iran, prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago. US officials familiar with the situation said one crew member was still missing late on Friday, after Iranian state media released images of a tail fin and other debris accompanied by an initial claim that an advanced US

International law experts ‘seriously concerned’ about ‘strikes on schools, health centres and homes’ in contravention of Geneva conventions Donald Trump, other senior US officials and their cheerleaders appear to be embracing attacks – and threats of attacks – on Iranian civilian infrastructure, which legal experts say appears to constitute serious war crimes under international law. In a rambling national address on Wednesday, the US president warned that if Iran did not reach an unspecified deal with him, US forces would “hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants” and “bring [Iran] back to the stone ages – where they belong”. Continue reading...

Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go round Gurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab. Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India’s breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season’s rice crop. Continue reading...

Min Aung Hlaing seized control five years ago and plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos Min Aung Hlaing, the military general who plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos when he took power in the 2021 coup has been appointed president, months after widely condemned sham elections. Min Aung Hlaing, who is wanted by the prosecutor of the international criminal court for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim minority, was voted president by lawmakers on Friday. Myanmar’s parliament is dominated by the pro-military party, which won a landslide in one-sided elections earlier this year. Continue reading...

At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media ban Nepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year. Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...

Balendra Shah, 35, is a symbol of change in country whose government was toppled last year in youth-led uprising Nepal’s rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, who is about to be sworn in as prime minister, has issued his first post-election message in the form of a rap urging unity. Hours before the release he swore an oath as a newly elected lawmaker, and he is due to become the Himalayan republic’s new prime minister on Friday. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio welcomes release of Dennis Coyle, who was detained in January last year for violating unspecified laws Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have released the American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul on Tuesday, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s supreme court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient”. Continue reading...

Storm Dave expected to cause Easter weekend travel disruption, though warm weather could return next week Storm Dave is expected to cause travel disruption this Easter weekend, with warnings for heavy snow and gale-force winds issued across northern parts of the UK, but a reprieve from the cold snap could be on the way, with temperatures forecast to reach the mid-20s next week. The Met Office has issued a yellow severe weather warning in Scotland for heavy snow and blizzards causing some travel and power disruption. Up to 30 centimetres of snow could fall. An amber weather warning for wind has been

Viral reviews of artisan cafes across the capital are sparking a debate over cost, culture – and who gets a slice of the city The video that started it all was innocuous enough: a woman in her 20s posted on TikTok about how she spends a perfect weekend in north London. On her list were the bakeries Jolene and Gail’s, and the De Beauvoir Deli. The reaction, however, was anything but. Many locals commented that they had never heard of the businesses she mentioned. One north Londoner, Moses Combe, 21, was equally incredulous. “If this is where all the north London girlies

Senior figures express concerns over medical union’s refusal of pay rise that is higher than offer to other NHS staff Trade unions have privately expressed qualms about the forthcoming doctors’ strikes, expressing frustration at the conduct of the talks and the demands of the British Medical Association. The BMA is pushing for a pay rise higher than the 3.5% offered to doctors by the government, with strikes planned for next week. Continue reading...

Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1% Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown. The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources. Continue reading...

Lack of regulation for specialist classes leaves UK fitness enthusiasts at risk, say professional bodies The boom in reformer pilates has created a “wild west” of studios where poor regulation has resulted in inexperienced teachers and a rise in injuries, professional standards bodies have warned. Pilates is not formally or legally regulated, and as its popularity has surged, industry experts say, so too has the growth of packed reformer-based classes often led by instructors with limited training. Continue reading...

Crew members can now see the moon, which one described as ‘a beautiful sight’, from their spacecraft’s docking hatch The Artemis II crew are now closer to the moon than the Earth, Nasa has said, as the four astronauts completed the third day of their flight to the moon. “We can see the moon out of the docking hatch right now. It’s a beautiful sight,” said an unnamed member of the crew, which Nasa shared in a post on X on Saturday morning. Continue reading...

President has affixed his name to institutions and edifices, and his visage now glowers from several federal buildings The US has a history of naming things after its presidents. Washington DC has the Ronald Reagan airport, while John F Kennedy international airport is New York’s main air transport thoroughfare. The Hoover Dam straddles Nevada and Arizona; Theodore Roosevelt is one of several former presidents to have a Washington DC building named after them; Franklin Delano Roosevelt has an island; Abraham Lincoln has the Lincoln Memorial; and George Washington has the nation’s capital and an entire state. Continue reading...

Researchers warn the high-pressure conditions could disrupt marine life and ecosystems if it continues * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox For more than a century, shoreline stations operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have measured water temperatures along the California coast. This year, they are flashing a warning sign. Over the last three months, several stations have repeatedly posted record-breaking daily high temperatures – with the La Jolla station registering temperatures a full 10F above historical average at one point last month. Continue reading...

Nurul Shah Alam, a nearly blind Rohingya refugee, was left alone in a Buffalo parking lot. His death has been ruled a homicide – what now? On 19 February, the second day of Ramadan, Mohamad Faisal Nurul Amin and his family gathered to pray before sunrise in their apartment on the outskirts of Buffalo, New York. After nearly a year of waiting, they believed their family would be together again. Amin’s father, Nurul Shah Alam, 56, was coming home. “For the first time since we arrived in America, I felt happy,” said Fatima Abdul Roshid, Shah Alam’s wife, speaking through an interpreter.

Strain found in 29 states and Puerto Rico carries spike mutations, but no data shows increased severity * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox BA.3.2, an Omicron variant of Covid-19 with dozens of new spike mutations, has been detected in 29 US states and Puerto Rico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but experts say there is not yet evidence it is more severe than other recent variants. “The right response to BA.3.2 is serious attention, not alarm,” says Dr Jake Scott, a Stanford professor and infectious disease expert who

Five European Union finance ministers are calling for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies in reaction to rising fuel prices due to the Iran war, according to a letter from ‌the ministers to the EU Commission seen by Reuters on Saturday. The finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria made the joint call in a letter dated Friday, saying such a measure would be a signal that “we stand united and are able to take action”. “It would also send a clear message that those...

The United Arab Emirates has begun retaliating against Iran’s incessant air strikes on its industrial infrastructure by squeezing the economic lifeline it has long extended to the sanctions-bound Islamic Republic. Rather than taking sweeping measures that would signal an escalation beyond its purely defensive posture, the UAE this week quietly banned most Iranians from entering the country or transiting its airports. The UAE is home to more than half a million Iranians, many of whom are...

Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic, the judiciary said. The executions were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were put to death earlier in the week. They also come against the backdrop of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, sparked by...

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday, with smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its...

Armed police guarding London Mayor Sadiq Khan left a bag of guns outside his home which was found by a member of the public, it was reported. Scaffolder Jordan Griffiths told The Sun that his pregnant girlfriend found the bag in south London on Tuesday evening. Inside the bag was an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler & Koch carbine, a Glock pistol, taser and ammunition, the newspaper reported. “My partner saw the bag sitting in the road by the kerbside and became suspicious. She went over to it and...

They are sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they are just like us. The four crew members zipping through space towards the moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they are also still muddling on through life’s mundanities – all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans. Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for the...

Efforts by South Korea and France to secure safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz are likely to be centred on a post-war defensive armada with other countries. Analysts also say both nations are wary of joining the Middle East conflict at this point in time and antagonising Iran. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday revealed he had agreed with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to cooperate on safety in the strategic oil supply strait. Lee made the remarks after a...

The whole world has come to oppose the Iran war, including most Americans. Just as Israel took part in the 1956 Suez crisis, which signalled the last hurrah of European imperialism, it is now jointly prosecuting a pointless but destructive war that is likely to spell the twilight of American hegemony. This time, though, the Jewish state won’t get away so easily. From the Palestinian territories to Iran and Lebanon, it can no longer hide its Zionist expansionism that threatens the entire...

A 12-year-old has been arrested in connection with the death of a classmate who was hit in the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying incident at a Los Angeles school, authorities said Friday. The juvenile, whose age and gender have not been made public, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday, Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Miller said. The arrest stems from the February 25 death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa. The Los Angeles County District...

Pope Leo lifted a wooden cross and held it aloft from his waist at the start of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope has set out to carry the cross to every station. “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week...

One crew member from a US fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued by US forces, multiple news outlets reported on Friday, citing two US officials, while a second crew member remains missing. A separate US aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz, though its pilot was rescued safely, according to the reports. Iran claimed on Friday to have shot down the American jet, releasing photos of apparent wreckage of an F-15E. The United States reportedly launched a search-and-rescue...

The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. Nasa released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1½ days into the first astronaut moon shot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds As of midmorning on Friday, Wiseman and his crew...

A French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, in what appear to be the first such transits since the war in Iran closed the crucial waterway. The CMA CGM Kribi container ship exited the strait on Friday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and two people familiar with the situation. That is the first ship linked to western Europe that is known to have made it through since the war began more than a month ago. Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines...

Russian strikes killed at least eight people across Ukraine on Friday, including in a “massive” missile and drone attack near the capital, local authorities reported. Ukrainian officials claim the Kremlin is changing its tactics to increase civilian suffering, shifting to daytime barrages and preparing to target more key infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky has signalled Kyiv’s openness to a potential Easter truce. The holiday is celebrated on April 12 in Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky...

American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 per cent. The Labor Department reported on Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. The unemployment rate was down from 4.4 per cent in February. That is partly because the labour force – those working and looking for work – dropped by...

President Donald ⁠Trump on Friday said the ⁠US can open the Strait of Hormuz with a little more time, as pressure mounts for his administration to find a ‌quick resolution to a war against Iran. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL,& MAKE A FORTUNE,” he said in a post on Truth Social. Nearly ⁠five weeks after it started with a joint US-Israeli aerial ‌assault, the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and roil ‌financial markets, raising...

The dust and debris of the US-Israeli war on Iran have yet to settle, but its strategic shock waves have reached East Asia. From Tokyo to Taipei, a reassessment is under way. The conflict, intended to project American resolve, has been a brutal stress test for the US-led order – with catastrophic results for Washington’s credibility. Far from cementing its primacy, America’s misadventure has revealed a superpower that is overstretched, vulnerable and seen as an unreliable partner. This erosion...

Human remains have been found aboard a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz last month, the vessel’s owner said on Friday, after three crew members were reported missing following the attack. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global oil supplies. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck in March while travelling through the strait after departing Khalifa port in the...

The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with the Hezbollah militant group began. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed about 1,000...

Iran on Friday said it shot down an F-35 fighter jet. A statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, said the fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace by a new, advanced defence system. There was no initial confirmation of the incident from the United States, which has been waging war against Iran alongside Israel since February 28. The IRGC said the F-35 was the second to have been shot down. “Due to the complete destruction of the aircraft,...

From controlling the weight of aircraft to sending more flights to Europe via Russian airspace, Chinese airlines have adopted a range of measures in response to the surge in oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict that threatens to crimp their razor-thin margins. A number of carriers, including China Eastern Airlines, have been enforcing more precise and complex cost management measures in recent weeks to save fuel, according to industry insiders. They include stricter load and weight...

Threatening to destroy Iran’s electricity grid and to reduce the country of 90 million to destitution, US President Donald Trump is shattering precedent by not just accepting but gloating about acts seen as potential war crimes. The consequences for Trump, at least in the near term, are probably none, experts say, as his administration works hard to undermine international institutions tasked with keeping norms. The Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, agreed following World War II,...

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. Controlled escalation? Trump hails ‘victories’ in Iran but vows more strikes US President Donald Trump declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military...

Cuba’s government announced on Thursday that it was pardoning 2,010 prisoners as a “humanitarian” gesture during Holy Week, after pledging in March to release dozens amid heightened US pressure on Havana. The major announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump eased a de facto oil blockade of Cuba by allowing a Russian tanker to deliver crude to the fuel-starved island. The Trump administration has called for change in communist-run Cuba’s system of government and the US president has...

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US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the tallest bridge in Iran had been destroyed, hours after threatening to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages”. Ghodratollah Seif, the deputy governor of Alborz province, where the B1 bridge is located, said the strike had killed eight people and wounded 95 others, according to state TV and Fars news agency. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse is not able to access the sites of strikes nor to independently verify tolls in...

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge. The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It was not clear if Woods was referring to US President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating...

Four Artemis astronauts were zooming towards the moon on Thursday after a major engine firing, a milestone that commits Nasa to the first crewed lunar fly-by in more than half a century. With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the moon, which they now will loop as part of the 10-day Artemis II mission. “Human beings have left Earth orbit” for the first time...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran. General Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”, said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden...

In a leafy Tehran park on Thursday, Iranians gathered for picnics on the final day of the Persian new year holidays, shrugging off US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”. The country has been at war for more than a month and Trump – who launched the conflict alongside Israel on February 28 – has vowed to strike Iran hard for another “two or three weeks”. Powerful blasts shook the Iranian capital on Thursday. Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild,...

After avoiding much of the churn, firings and senior official turnover that marked his first term, US President Donald Trump on Thursday added to the string of high-profile departures in recent days, as bad news heaped more pressure on the White House. The administration announced that US Attorney General Pam Bondi was leaving to be replaced by her deputy, Todd Blanche, in an acting capacity. “We love Pam,” Trump wrote on social media. “She will be transitioning to a much-needed and important...

Four children were stabbed to death on Thursday at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. The male suspect, in his thirties, gained access by posing as a parent before attacking children aged around two and three with a knife, police said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” police spokeswoman Racheal Kawala said. The suspect...

A UK-led meeting of some 40 countries on the Strait of Hormuz crisis wrapped up on Thursday with a demand for the “immediate and unconditional” reopening of the vital shipping route but no immediate breakthrough. “Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail,” British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement. “To that effect, partners today called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and respect for the...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi plans to flip the script on Beijing Allies of exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi signalled a potential reset in Tehran’s ties with China and Russia, as the 65-year-old increasingly positioned himself as a central figure in Iran’s political future – a claim that...

Stocks slumped and oil prices soared on Thursday after President Donald Trump vowed the US will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. The S&P 500 fell 1.1 per cent, with three out of every four stocks in the benchmark index losing ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 545 points, or 1.2 per cent, as of 9.52am Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.6 per cent. Major indexes throughout Europe and Asia also fell. The broad...

The suspected leader of an isolated forest community on the Mediterranean island of Sicily has been arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting child abuse, Italian news agencies ANSA and Adnkronos reported on Thursday. The suspect is a man of German-Indian origin. He is said to have led a community of 15 people, including two children, who lived in a forest near Cefalu on Sicily’s northern coast. The two children, aged 7 and 11, were reportedly not vaccinated, did not attend school and had to...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that a military operation to liberate the Strait of Hormuz is “unrealistic”, while lamenting Donald Trump’s differing daily statements on the Iran war and Nato. “There are those who advocate for the liberation of the Strait of Hormuz by force through a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States,” Macron said during a visit to South Korea. “I say sometimes because it has varied, it is never the option we have chosen...

A month into the Iran war, Washington still says it expects to achieve its objectives in weeks, not months. That may prove optimistic. The terms on offer from the United States and Iran barely overlap, and markets remain unconvinced a durable settlement is close. But one fact is clear: the war’s most consequential effects may be felt not only in the Middle East but across East Asia. It would be a mistake to see this as only an oil story. It is also about hierarchy. In East Asia, the war is...

US President Donald Trump tried to sell the war on Iran to sceptical Americans in a televised address, saying that the conflict was “nearing completion” and that there was no need to worry about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. The US would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks”, Trump said on Wednesday from the White House. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages,” he said. He didn’t give a specific deadline for the end of operations during the...

Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the war with Iran, with NGOs and opposition figures denouncing an environment of impunity. While so-called “Jewish terrorism” has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have been carried out for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli...

Students across Russia are being offered large financial incentives ⁠to join drone units fighting in Ukraine as operators and engineers, while companies in Russia’s central Ryazan region have been given quotas to sign up workers for the army, documents show. The recruitment effort, which comes as Russian forces continue to grind forwards on the battlefield in Ukraine and as US-brokered peace talks are on ice due to the Iran war, suggests Moscow is diversifying its push to replenish its army’s...

Andrew Tilton, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs, speaks to the South China Morning Post about the long-term future of China’s economy after the “two sessions” in Beijing and ahead of an expected Xi-Trump summit – all during an oil crisis sparked by the US-Israel war against Iran. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions series. What impact will the oil shock arising from the Iran war have on the growth of Asian economies this year? Asia is greatly...

More than 200 years after being sunk by Admiral Horatio Nelson and the British fleet, a Danish warship has been discovered on the seabed of Copenhagen Harbour by marine archaeologists. Working in thick sediment and almost zero visibility 15 metres (49 feet) beneath the waves, divers have been working against the clock to unearth the 19th century wreck of the Dannebroge before it becomes a construction site in a new housing district being built off the Danish coast. Denmark’s Viking Ship Museum,...

The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to an Office of Foreign Assets Control entry on the Treasury Department website. The newly announced sanctions relief is the latest US recognition of Rodriguez as a legitimate authority in Venezuela ever since the US military captured her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife on January 3 in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The pair have since been taken to New York to face drug...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military objectives were still “nearing completion” and that further strikes could inflict heavy damage on targets in the country. “We are going to hit them extremely hard. Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing,” he said in a...

While the federal deficit has started to shrink under President Trump, his plans could make the long-term situation worse.

The convicted sex offender gave Anil Ambani information on appointments and foreign policy. Some seemed prescient, though there was no evidence he was close to the administration.

The White House has turned deportations, a signature domestic issue, into a major piece of foreign policy. Here’s what we know about the program.

Physicians from 39 countries are being pushed out of U.S. hospitals as a policy blocks their ability to work.

A review of Camp East Montana in Texas found failures in medical care, disease control and oversight, including improperly documented uses of force.

The Artemis II mission elicited deep feelings for many Americans, particularly in Houston, the home of mission control.

As the HBO comedy finished production earlier this year, a photographer captured some of the final days on set and the showrunners looked back on its award-winning run.

Trump girls gone wild — or just gone.

A look at a conflict without end and a constitution under pressure.

We don’t have to travel to the moon to gain some of the insight that astronauts do.

The city thinks four developments in Chelsea are too run-down to be saved, and wants to rebuild them, adding mixed-income housing. Some residents are opposed.

Immigration lawyers and former federal officials say the case of Salah Sarsour echoes those against other pro-Palestinian activists.

A judge ruled against a holding company controlled by David Nahmad, the billionaire art dealer, which had bought the work at auction in 1996.

A Black woman is pushing for changes in the hair industry after claiming in a lawsuit that she and her 7-year-old were turned away from an Ulta Beauty salon in Manhattan because of their hair texture.