Minimalist News

Comey Subpoenaed For Alleged 'Grand Conspiracy' Against Trump Former FBI Director James Comey has been slapped with a subpoena as part of a wide-ranging case against Obama-Biden-era officials who helped frame Donald Trump is a Russian asset in a "grand conspiracy."  The grand jury subpoena, issued last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, focuses on Comey’s role in the preparation of the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that concluded Russia sought to influence the election in favor of Trump and against Hillary Clinton. The probe, which Trump allies have described as examining a “grand conspiracy” against the

Disclosure? US Government Registers Aliens.gov Domain Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, The momentum behind President Trump’s drive to expose hidden UAP files continues to build, now underscored by fresh reminders of why such secrets have been buried for decades. The Executive Office of the President has registered the aliens.gov domain, a quiet but unmistakable step toward a potential public portal for declassified materials on unidentified anomalous phenomena. This follows Trump’s directive to release all related government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, UAP, and UFOs. > The odds of aliens being confirmed this year are soaring. > > 16% chance.https://t.co/kTHTu8DkIZ > > — Polymarket (@Polymarket) March 18,

Netanyahu Declares Iran's Nuclear Program & Missile Production "Destroyed" - Denies Israel Influenced Trump SUMMARY * Netanyahu: Iran can no longer enrich Uranium; missile production destroyed; says Israel acted alone against Pars oil field; claims Trump was not influenced by Israel to go to war. * F-35 stealth jet takes on Iranian fire, emergency landing: CNN * Trump dials up threat, seeking leverage, denies approving Israeli Pars strikes; however, reports from The Wall Street Journal and Axios say the White House was aware. US sending more troops to region. * Energy war hits breaking point:  Qatar's Ras Laffan damaged, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain

Kent Tells Tucker: 'Imminent Threat' Was From Israel, Not Iran; Ordered To Halt Charlie Kirk Investigation Joe Kent, former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center who was President Trump’s principal counterterrorism advisor, appeared on Tucker Carlson's show to explain his side of the story after stepping down from the administration. Kent announced his resignation Tuesday, citing his opposition to the ongoing U.S. war with Iran, and his belief that Iran posed "no imminent threat" to America - while asserting in his resignation letter that his wife died in "a war manufactured by Israel" in a 2019 suicide bombing in Manjbi, Syria. In this

SoCal Heat-Wave Prompts Health Warning Of High Bacteria Levels At Los Angeles Beaches Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, Health officials warned that some Southern California beaches may be unsafe for swimming due to elevated bacterial levels this week amid elevated temperatures across the region. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on March 18 said that visitors should avoid swimming, surfing, or playing in the ocean waters between Malibu and Santa Monica due to bacteria levels that it said exceed state health standards. “These warnings are issued because recent water samples showed bacterial levels exceeding health standards, which may increase

Bezos Plots Colossal $100 Billion Fund To Transform Companies Using AI: WSJ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in early discussions to raise as much as $100 billion for a new investment vehicle aimed at acquiring and revitalizing manufacturing companies through the application of artificial intelligence, according to the Wall Street Journal. The proposed fund, described in investor materials as a “manufacturing transformation vehicle,” would target companies in strategic industrial sectors such as semiconductor fabrication, defense and aerospace. Bezos has held preliminary meetings with some of the largest asset managers in Asia and the Middle East, though the talks remain at an nascent

Super Micro Co-Founder Arrested In Alleged $2.5 Billion Nvidia Chip Smuggling Scheme Federal prosecutors have charged a co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc. and two associates with participating in a scheme to divert roughly $2.5 billion in advanced Nvidia chips to China, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday afternoon. The charges mark a notable escalation in Washington’s effort to police the flow of high-end artificial-intelligence hardware, shifting focus from overseas resellers to individuals with direct ties to U.S. technology firms. The indictment alleges that the defendants obtained restricted graphics processors - used to train large AI models - and routed them through

NASA May Shrink Boeing's Moon-Mission Role While Handing SpaceX Core Rocket Responsibilities President Donald Trump's NASA chief could soon announce Boeing's diminishing role in returning astronauts to the Moon, while leaning heavily on Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket company to do the heavy lifting. Boeing's Space Launch System (SLS), originally the rocket backbone of the Artemis mission, would no longer carry the Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule to the Moon. Under the new plan, SpaceX's Starship would take the lead. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman plans to meet with the companies working on the Artemis program next Tuesday, including Boeing, SpaceX, and Blue Origin, to

Minnesota Audit: State Agency 'Accidentally' Blocked Kickback Investigation Into Autism Services Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A state agency erred when it blocked autism-services kickbacks from being investigated—a decision based on the agency’s flawed, decades-old definition of “fraud,” according to a Minnesota audit released March 17. A view outside the Minnesota State Capitol building in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 20, 2020. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images That was the key finding of the state’s Office of Legislative Auditor, a state watchdog that conducted a two-year special review. The autism-services program that auditors examined is among many health and welfare benefits that

Obama Judge Strikes Down Ten Commandments In Arkansas Classrooms Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A federal judge has struck down a law in Arkansas that required the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, finding it violated children’s rights. U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks (Obama) ruled on March 16 that not enjoining the law, Act 573, would violate the religious and Free Exercise rights of children in public school. A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta on June 20, 2024. John Bazemore/AP Photo “Act 573’s purpose

US Fast-Tracks Billions In 'Emergency' Arms Sales To Gulf, Bypassing Congress On the one hand President Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth have declared that America is 'winning' against Iran, having destroyed its navy and air defenses, and having seriously degraded its missiles - but on the other the admin has put in for a more than $200 billion supplemental request to Congress to fund the war. It seems Congress will likely eventually sign off on this gargantuan figure - for an 'excursion' which should end 'soon' we are told by Trump - given that even the effort to pass so much as a

All This Fuss About A Fiat Dollar Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com, Throughout the First World, and, particularly in the US, there is an increasing consciousness that fiat currency, far from being the solution to economic problems, is, in fact, a cause of them. There are even those who, over the years, have predicted that the continued massive creation of fiat dollars may well lead to price controls, destruction of savings, looting, riots and, possibly, even revolution. A decade ago, such predictions were regarded by most as nonsense. Today, all of these eventualities seem more likely, although there still remains a strong

What Would A Bank Run Look Like Today? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, The movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) features what is today the most famous bank run. It’s film and fiction, yes, but fits with a scenario that has been common for centuries. When the movie came out, the bank runs of 1930–1932 were very much in people’s memory. For older people, they remember the Panic of 1907. Before that, there was the Panic of 1893, the Panic of 1873, the Panic of 1837, and the Panic of 1819. Panics and banking go together and have for 500

One Reason This Energy Shock Is Not Like The One 15-Years Ago Arend Kapteyn, the global head of economics and strategy research and chief economist at UBS, told clients that one key reason the current Middle East conflict-driven energy shock "is not like 2011-2014" will be the absence of a comparable response from the shale patch, suggesting consumers are more likely to bear the brunt of the pain.  Kapteyn noted that, on an inflation-adjusted basis, oil prices in 2011-2014 were actually higher than they are today, yet the U.S. economy absorbed that shock because the shale boom provided a lift to the industrial

Costa Rica's President Cuts Off Diplomatic Ties With Cuban Regime Authored by Kimberlyh Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves revealed Wednesday that his government has ceased recognizing the legitimacy of Cuba’s communist regime and ordered the Cuban embassy in San José to close. The Costa Rican embassy in Havana, Cuba, on March 18, 2026. Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images In a press conference in Peñas Blancas during the inauguration of new U.S.-donated mobile drug scanners at the northern border with Nicaragua, Chaves said the decision was a stand against the Cuban government’s oppression of its people. “Costa Rica does

US LNG Export Terminals "Running Near Maximum" As MidEast Energy Infra Descends Into Chaos The attacks on upstream oil/gas assets across the Middle East this week sparked turmoil across global energy markets.  Israel set off the chain reaction with its attack on Iran's South Pars gas field on Wednesday morning, followed by Iran's retaliatory strikes on Qatar's LNG plant, Saudi Arabia's Red Sea export hub, and other targets across the surrounding Gulf states. This week's attacks on critical upstream energy facilities across the Middle East, by both Iran and Israel, suggest the risk of prolonged outages and tighter global gas markets. Read:  * WTI-Brent Spread

Leaks Allege Drones Spotted Over Base Where Rubio, Hegseth Live Unidentified drones were allegedly detected above the Washington Army base where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live, according to three insiders who leaked the information to the Washington Post. Officials were unable to determine where they originated, two of the leakers said.  Multiple drones were allegedly spotted over Fort Lesley J. McNair on a single night over the last 10 days, prompting increased security measures and a White House discussion on how to respond, said senior admin official "who spoke on the condition of anonymity." > The drones over Fort McNair prompted officials to

Some US Airports Face Possible Closure If Government Shutdown Prolongs: TSA Official Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, Some U.S. airports may be forced to close down if lawmakers fail to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end the partial government shutdown, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official said on March 17. Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News that the TSA has “fully depleted” its available workforce from the National Deployment Office to cover staffing shortages at airports. “So at this point, we’re fully stretched. Frankly, there’s not much else we can do,”

Another 2008 Analog: Goldman, JPM Offering Hedge Funds Ways To Short Private Credit The big story last week, a narrative which we may have inadvertently started, was the recurring comparison across various sellside desks (and quite a few buysiders) of the current double crisis (private credit as an analog to the subprime crisis of 2007/2008 coupled with soaring oil prices which peaked at just below $150 in the summer of 2008 before crashing along with the start of the global financial crisis, similar to now). None other than Michael Hartnett dedicated his latest Flow Show to describing how "Wall Street Is

US Energy Sec Confirms No Plans For Oil Or Gas Export Bans Update (1335ET): US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has confirmed, through a statement he posted on X that the US will not be baning oil or gas exports... > Thanks to @POTUS, the United States is the world’s top oil and natural gas producer. > > We are also the largest natural gas exporter and a top oil exporter. > > To be clear, the Trump administration has no plan to implement restrictions on oil and gas exports. Interestingly, the initial kneejerk higher in oil prices on the reported denial has been completely erased... *  * 

Mother and child held in notorious Rio Grande Valley detention centre despite presenting visa, family says A Canadian mother and her seven-year-old daughter, who has autism, have been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas since Saturday, family members have said. Relatives of Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Lucas say they were detained unlawfully. They are uncertain about what problem ICE found with their immigration paperwork. Continue reading...

Discovery at Monte Verde puts north-to-south expansion theory back at centre of heated debate on continent’s human history A groundbreaking new study may have once again upended our understanding of human prehistory in the Americas. For years, the predominant theory of how humans arrived in the western hemisphere centred around the Clovis culture, which crossed the Beringia land bridge from Asia between 13,400 and 12,800 years ago, and spread south. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Anita Anand says she has drafted principles to reduce risk of regional spillover and wider shocks * Middle East crisis – live updates Canada is pushing for a collective G7 and Middle East approach to de-escalating the Iran war, including off ramps that could bring an end to the conflict, the Canadian foreign minister, Anita Anand, has said. In London to meet the UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, after talks with her Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, Anand told the Guardian she hoped a G7 meeting chaired by France, this year’s president of the group, might start to build a broader

Reform UK leader was paid to make remarks about imprisoned rapper and ex-Honduran president in Cameo videos * Newly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogans Nigel Farage called for the release of the imprisoned rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and commended the efforts to free a former Honduran president jailed in the US for drug trafficking. The Reform UK leader was paid to make the remarks on the personalised video platform Cameo, which allows users to commission celebrities and public figures to record short video clips. Continue reading...

Ottawa wants to modernize a region in the north that’s about six times the size of Texas, ‘just like in the 1800s’ Picture an Arctic territory, marginalized by its own country, almost entirely lacking roads, ports and power sources, but rich in mining potential and suddenly feeling vulnerable to outside threats. It’s not Greenland; it’s the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading...

Boyband drops album that speaks to its Korean roots ahead of Seoul comeback concert, with more than a quarter of a million fans expected to attend K-pop stars BTS released a new album on Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean roots and identity, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul. The Saturday night gig, which is expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS’s first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour. Continue reading...

Samoa and Tonga raise supply concerns with foreign partners as businesses and residents in Papua New Guinea grapple with higher fuel prices amid the Iran war The leaders of some Pacific countries have appealed for help with oil supplies while others urge against “panic buying” as the import-reliant nations grapple with fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East. Oil prices have surged to nearly $110 a barrel after strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states. Continue reading...

As other Asian economies race to conserve energy, China has huge reserves of oil and gas as well as alternative energy sources like wind and solar * Middle East crisis – live updates Xi Jinping has been preparing for a crisis like this for years. China must secure its energy supply “in its own hands”, its president was reported to have said during a visit to one of its vast oilfields in 2021. The US-Israel war on Iran plunged the Middle East into a deep conflict, with the strait of Hormuz – one of the most important waterways in global trade –

US president was meeting with Japanese PM when he said: ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan?’ * Middle East crisis – live updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox It would be funny if it wasn’t so Trumpy. Hosting the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in the Oval Office on Thursday, Donald Trump could not resist mocking Japan about its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war. Continue reading...

Independent committee to investigate safety standards and whether building practices contributed to worst residential fires in decades * How the Hong Kong fire unfolded – visual guide Public hearings in Hong Kong begin on Thursday into a devastating fire that ripped through a housing complex last year, killing 168 people. A judge-led independent committee will investigate whether fire safety standards were inadequate, if construction practices contributed to the fire, and if there were failures on the part of government officers or contractors. Continue reading...

Follow today’s news live * Tropical Cyclone Narelle hits far north Queensland as 250km/h winds tear off roofs and fell trees * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Far north residents in the path of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle say they have taken shelter as winds begin to swirl in the remote Cape York Communities. Sara Watkins, the owner of Coen Mechanical and the Little Bush Pantry in the township of Coen – population about 330 – say they moved to a more secure brick building when the winds picked up about 4am, local time. The wind has

Government faces political fight as industry says mooted 25% levy on exports would hurt Australia’s economy and energy security * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Gas giants will lobby against any federal government moves to introduce a 25% export levy on windfall profits, as crossbenchers pressure the prime minister to redirect billions of dollars in “wartime profits” to Australians struggling amid the global energy crisis. It comes after the prime minister’s department asked Treasury to model the effects of placing a flat 25% tax on gas exports, the ABC reported on Friday, along with any further

Flight 41 from Los Angeles encountered patch of rough air shortly before landing in Sydney, leaving four crew injured * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Three flight attendants were taken to hospital from Sydney airport on Friday morning after their plane hit a bad patch of turbulence just before landing. Delta Air Lines flight 41 from Los Angeles encountered the turbulence during its descent into Sydney, with four crew members injured, a Delta spokesperson confirmed. Continue reading...

Prime minister makes hasty exit after people heard yelling phrases including ‘disgrace’, ‘shame’ and ‘genocide supporters’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese has claimed he was heckled by people at one of Australia’s largest mosques because they were unhappy his government has outlawed “extremist organisations” like Hizb ut-Tahrir, although he failed to provide any evidence for his claim. The prime minister and the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, were at Lakemba mosque in Sydney’s west on Friday morning before celebrations for the end of

Authorities warn of strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and coastal storm surges as cyclone makes landfall in far north Queensland * Live updates: Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle – latest news * Cyclone Narelle path tracking map * How did global heating fuel Tropical Cyclone Narelle? * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle has made landfall in far north Queensland as a “high-end” category 4 system, posing a severe threat to several remote communities. The system began to lose intensity as it crossed the Cape York peninsular on Friday morning to become a still-severe

German chancellor Friedrich Merz described Orbán’s U-turn on the loan Hungary had agreed to in December as ‘a gross act of disloyalty’ EU leaders fumed after Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, refused to drop his opposition to a vital €90bn (£78bn) loan for Ukraine, accusing him of betrayal and acting in bad faith. German chancellor Friedrich Merz described Orbán’s U-turn on the loan Hungary had agreed to in December as “a gross act of disloyalty” adding: “I am firmly convinced that it will leave deep marks.” Continue reading...

Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases have become targets for Iran after outbreak of Middle East crisis EU leaders have pledged to stand behind Cyprus as it seeks “an open and frank discussion” on the future of the British bases on the island, which have become a target after the outbreak of the latest Middle East crisis. Ahead of an EU summit on Thursday, Cyprus’s president, Nikos Christodoulides, said he wanted “an open and frank discussion with the British government” regarding the status and future of the British bases on the island. Continue reading...

James ‘Jimmy’ Gracey was at nightclub in Spanish city for spring break when he separated from friends at about 3am The body of James “Jimmy” Gracey, a 20-year-old college student from Illinois, was found Thursday in the water off a Barcelona beach, police in Spain said. Gracey’s body was found by police divers and positively identified, the press office for Catalonia’s regional police in Barcelona told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Daria Boyarskaya coordinating OSCE mission overseeing vote in which pro-Moscow Viktor Orbán could lose power Hungarian rights groups have raised concerns over the appointment of Vladimir Putin’s former interpreter to a key role in an international election monitoring mission, amid fears of Russian interference ahead of Hungary’s crucial vote next month. Daria Boyarskaya, who worked for many years for Russia’s foreign ministry and interpreted in numerous high-level meetings including one between Putin and Donald Trump, is now a senior adviser at the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE-PA), based in Vienna. She is coordinating the body’s

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for de-escalation in the Middle East, welcoming what he said were signals by US president Donald Trump that combat action in Iran could come to an end, which could allow Europe to contribute to securing peace in the region. “I am expressly grateful that the US president sent a signal in this regard last night that he is prepared to bring the fighting to an end,” he told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels in comments reported by Reuters. Continue reading...

Palestinians say the move is part of a wider Israeli strategy to leverage security tensions to tighten restrictions For the first time since 1967, al-Aqsa mosque – Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site – will be closed at the end of Ramadan on Friday, with tensions rising among Palestinians as Israeli authorities keep the complex shut, forcing worshippers to hold Eid prayers as close as they can to the sealed site. On Friday morning hundreds of worshippers were forced to pray outside the Old City, as Israeli police barricaded the entrances to the site. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – our coverage of the Middle East crisis continues here Turning to Australia now, a petrol tsar will manage “unprecedented” supply issues caused by the Middle East conflict as the finishing touches are put on measures to address dire shortages in many regional areas. Prime minister Anthony Albanese convened a snap virtual meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday to discuss major price shocks and shortages driven by the US-Israel war on Iran. My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks. Our fuel supply is currently secure.

Foreign minister issues warning after Israeli attack on South Pars gasfield and as Qatar reels from retaliatory strike * ‘Doomsday scenario’: a visual guide to the oil and gas site attacks in the Middle East * Middle East crisis – live updates Iran said on Thursday it would show “zero restraint” if its energy infrastructure was targeted again as Qatar revealed that almost a fifth of its liquefied natural gas export capacity had been knocked out in an Iranian strike that is likely to have a years-long impact. The warning, delivered by the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, followed Israel’s attack on

Foreign minister claims Israel convinced Donald Trump to make ‘grave miscalculation’ of waging war on Iran * Middle East crisis – live updates Oman’s foreign minister has claimed the US has “lost control of its own foreign policy” and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump’s administration to go to war with Iran – a conflict he described as a “catastrophe” and a “grave miscalculation”. Writing in the Economist, Badr Albusaidi, the Omani minister who mediated the latest nuclear talks between Iran and the US, offered an unusually damning assessment of events leading up to the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran and

Report shows how minerals critical to defense readiness have seen a ‘near total’ disruption in seaborne trade * Middle East crisis – live updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The closure of the strait of Hormuz is causing a “paralyzing, real-time problem” for any prospective manufacturing surge in the US defense industrial base, and even for the repair of defense equipment damaged by Iranian attacks, according to analysis published by West Point’s Modern War Institute. In particular sulphur, a vital upstream input in the extraction of critical minerals including copper and

Distributor says authorities warned screening Tunisian film-maker Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama could harm India–Israel relations The Indian release of The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film about the death of a five-year-old girl during the Israel-Gaza war, has been blocked by the country’s ratings body, according to the film’s Indian distributor. In a report by Variety, Manoj Nandwana of Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment said that he was told that if the film was released, it would “break up” India-Israel relations. Continue reading...

People struggle to cook and businesses bear brunt as closure of strait of Hormuz slows imports of liquefied petroleum gas For four days, Maya Rani, 36, has been arriving each morning at a gas distributor’s office in Delhi, her six-month-old daughter in her lap, waiting for hours. And each day she returns home empty-handed, told that a cooking gas cylinder may not be available for at least another week. Around her, the queue keeps growing, people clutching forms and documents, hoping to secure a cylinder. The flame in her kitchen began to fade last week and her husband, as he always does,

Five-day cessation announced as mass funeral held for some of hundreds of victims of airstrike on rehab centre Pakistan has announced a five-day pause in strikes against neighbouring Afghanistan, as a mass funeral was held for some of the hundreds of victims killed in Monday’s attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul. The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed and 265 others wounded in that attack, which took place as people at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

Experts say attacks on Afghanistan are ‘defensive, not offensive’ but carry a risk of spiralling cycle of violence An escalating Pakistani campaign of airstrikes against targets in Afghanistan is aimed at forcing the Taliban authorities to abandon their support for Pakistani militants, according to officials and experts. The strategy is to impose such a steep cost on the Taliban administration that they act to prevent attacks emanating from Afghanistan. Yet it carries the risk of spiralling violence. Continue reading...

Pakistani strike on Afghan capital kills 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by collapsing walls Witnesses and survivors have described the horrific scenes of a Pakistani air raid that hit a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing more than 400 people, who burned in their beds or were crushed by the collapsing building. Afghan rescue crews were still digging bodies out of the rubble on Tuesday after the strike, the deadliest single attack so far in a three-week war between the two countries. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lack of enforcement is allowing people to drop rubbish with complete impunity, says Clean Up Britain Scores of councils across the UK have in effect ended enforcement of fines for littering, while others are letting litterers off lightly and many more are neglecting to enforce fines for fly-tipping. At least 71 councils failed to issue a single fine for littering last year, while a further 67 issued fewer than 10, according to data from the Clean Up Britain campaign. Continue reading...

Britons are likely to have little loyalty to the car park operator as it goes into administration with a £305m debt burden Nearly a century old and once host to London fashion week, the NCP car park in Brewer Street in London’s Soho is facing an uncertain future. Its former glories – which at one time included separate rooms for chauffeurs and changing rooms for theatregoers – have long given way to complaints about a lack of security and high parking charges, but this week things got worse. National Car Parks, one of the UK’s biggest car park operators, which dates back

Exclusive: Testing in Bentham, home to UK’s highest recorded Pfas levels, finds one in four have blood levels in greatest risk category Alarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been found in the blood of people living in a town previously revealed to be contaminated with the UK’s highest recorded level of Pfas. Pfas, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and commonly known as forever chemicals because of their persistence in the environment, have been linked to a wide range of serious illnesses, including some cancers. They are used in a variety of consumer products but one of their most prolific uses

Archivist Jo Klett says the 40 boxes of material will provide ‘a full picture of Roger’s entire working career’ “It’s a joy to be old,” wrote Roger McGough, one of Britain’s most popular, prolific and funniest poets. “The dog dead and the car sold.” Another joy might be decluttering. After the departure of dozens of boxes of notebooks, manuscripts, drafts, project files, journals, posters, letters, personal artworks and more, McGough has admitted his house is significantly emptier. “If anyone wants to buy some old empty filing cabinets then get in touch … through you,” he joked. Continue reading...

Michael Kenny’s daughter Juliette, a sixth-former at a school in Kent, died one day after showing symptoms The father of an 18-year-old school pupil who died after the meningitis outbreak in Kent said his family’s devastation is “immeasurable” as he called for better protection for young people. Juliette Kenny died last Saturday, one day after first showing symptoms of vomiting and discoloration in her cheeks, her father, Michael Kenny, said. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * Trump news at a glance: president claims ignorance of Israel’s plan to strike Iranian gasfield, exposing rift * Sign up for the Breaking US News US email Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets. “They came into this fight with a lot of weapons.,” he said, adding that the US continues to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran. Continue reading...

Colombia-born Estefany Rodríguez, whose detention had alarmed press freedom advocates, freed on $10,000 bond The Nashville journalist who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month was released from a Louisiana detention center on Thursday after spending 15 days in custody. Estefany Rodríguez, who covers immigration and other topics for the outlet Nashville Noticias, was detained in Nashville on 4 March and spent a week at a county jail in Alabama before being transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana. Her lawyers said Rodríguez was detained without warrant. Continue reading...

Federal law says living presidents can’t appear on currency, but commission approves design for US’s 250th birthday A federal arts commission on Thursday approved the final design for a 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing Donald Trump’s image to help celebrate the US’s 250th birthday on 4 July. The vote by the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members are supporters of the Republican president and were appointed by him earlier this year, was without objection. It clears the way for the US Mint to begin production on the coin, whose size and denomination are still under discussion. Continue reading...

Scott Bessent says actions will increase oil supply and bring down prices, but long-term effects in question * Middle East crisis – live updates The US may soon remove sanctions on Iranian oil stranded on tankers at sea, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Thursday as Washington seeks to curb prices soaring over Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz. “In the coming days, we may un-sanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140m barrels,” Bessent said during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria. Continue reading...

Some highs in California, Nevada and Arizona recorded at 25-35F above normal, with widespread alerts and closures States across the US south-west recorded blistering temperatures at the tail end of winter, including some of the hottest March temperatures ever recorded in the US, with forecasts indicating hotter days are still to come. California, Nevada and Arizona were all under heat warnings on Thursday amid record-breaking temperatures. Continue reading...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 250 prisoners on Thursday - the biggest batch to be released so far - in return for a further easing of US sanctions, the US embassy in neighbouring Lithuania said. The releases were part of a bargaining process in which Lukashenko was seeking a normalisation of ties with Washington after years of isolation and sanctions, in exchange for easing repression in the former Soviet state he has led since 1994. Belarusian ‌human rights group Viasna said...

European Union leaders failed to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday to lift his blockade on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) EU loan to help Ukraine keep up its fight against Russia’s invasion. After a summit in Brussels, several leaders voiced deep frustration with Orban, who has cited a dispute over a war-damaged pipeline to justify blocking the implementation of the loan agreed back in December. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Orban - who maintains cordial ties...

By the time this column appears, the world will feel very different from when my previous column appeared earlier this month. In just days, a conflict that some in Washington seemed to believe would quickly topple Iran’s leadership has instead become a potentially long and uncertain war, with little clarity on how or when it will end. The front lines will have shifted, more oil tankers will have been stuck at sea and more flights cancelled, and there will almost certainly have been further...

A federal arts panel comprised of members appointed by Donald Trump on Thursday unanimously approved a commemorative gold coin featuring his image, part of a series of coins the US Mint is planning to produce to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this year. The 24-carat gold coin was the latest effort by Trump and his allies to put the president’s name on buildings, government programmes ‌and US currency since his second White House term began in January 2025. During a presentation by a US Mint...

Allies of exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi are signalling a potential reset in Tehran’s ties with China and Russia, even as the 65-year-old increasingly positions himself as a central figure in Iran’s political future – a claim that contrasts with Washington’s more cautious stance. Speaking at a media briefing in Washington on Thursday, Pahlavi’s chief of staff, Cameron Khansarinia, dismissed Beijing’s mediation efforts in the ongoing conflict, arguing that the current Iranian leadership is...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel and the United States were “winning” the war against Iran, with the Islamic Republic “decimated” and unable to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles. In an English-language press conference, Netanyahu insisted Israel had “acted alone” in striking Iran’s massive South Pars gas field, while confirming that US President Donald Trump had asked Israeli forces to “hold off” on such attacks moving forward. The Israeli premier also...

The Chinese founder of the massive router maker facing national security probes by the Trump administration has applied for an expedited visa under the Trump Gold Card programme, according to people familiar with the matter. California-based TP-Link Systems told the federal agencies scrutinising its operations that founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Chao had applied for permanent residency under the programme, the people said. Successful Gold Card applicants must give a US$1 million...

A US F-35 fighter aircraft was hit by suspected Iranian fire and had to make an emergency landing on Thursday. This would be the first time Iran has hit one of the US$100 million planes since the US and Israel launched their attack on the country on February 28, according to CNN, which first reported the incident. The F-35 was “flying a combat mission over Iran”, a spokesman for US Central Command said. “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Captain Tim Hawkins said....

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday there was no “time frame” for ending the US-Israeli war against Iran, which was launched three weeks ago. “We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame,” Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that President Donald Trump would be the one to decide when to stop. “It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’” American objectives in the war had not...

A pro-Kremlin figure who unexpectedly denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine in a social media post this week that went viral has been placed in a psychiatric facility, Russian media reported on Thursday. Ilya Remeslo made a career denouncing Putin’s critics until he became one himself, posting a manifesto late on Tuesday to his 90,000 followers on ⁠Telegram entitled: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.” He said Putin had prosecuted a “failing war”...

Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on the Israeli embassy, Britain’s oldest synagogue and other Jewish targets. Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, a dual Iranian-British national, and Alireza Farasati, an Iranian national, 22, are accused of being involved in gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets given to them by Iranian spy services over five weeks last summer. As such, the alleged activities...

Europe woke on Thursday to another energy shock, as military attacks on critical infrastructure in Qatar and Iran sent oil and gas prices across the continent soaring to levels unseen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The continent’s benchmark natural gas price, the Dutch TTF, climbed above €70 (US$80) per megawatt hour in Thursday morning trading – its highest level since December 2022, though still well below the more than €300 peak reached in the summer of 2022. Brent crude surged...

The US military strike against Iran is, by most accounts, a war of choice. Most policy analysts believe Iran poses no imminent threat to the United States. President Donald Trump’s decision appears partly intended to offset the political fallout from setbacks in his tariff policies and reinforce his image as a strongman president. Trump is believed to have been encouraged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wage war. US military preparations for the operation appear limited and there...

Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff’s deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. “We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!” the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media. The case tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take...

With the US-Israel war on Iran entering its third week, the world faces the risk of a more severe oil shock as military strikes expand to major energy infrastructure, heightening fears of a prolonged conflict. In this explainer, the South China Morning Post examines the latest developments and factors driving oil price volatility and assesses the potential impact on the global economy. Energy infrastructure: what is the latest? An Israeli air strike hit energy facilities on Wednesday at Iran’s...

European Union experts have arrived in Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline, state energy firm Naftogaz said, after its closure in January caused a row with Hungary that is blocking an EU loan to Kyiv. The EU last week proposed sending a mission to inspect the pipeline. Ukraine later said it had accepted the EU offer of technical support and funding to restore oil flows through the damaged pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off from Russian oil deliveries via...

Oil prices surged about 10 per cent and Chinese stocks fell on Thursday as widening conflict in the Middle East created new concerns about global energy supplies. Brent crude, the global benchmark, touched US$117 a barrel, having risen 60 per cent since the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the mainland CSI 300 both fell about 2 per cent. Prices of crude oil and gas jumped after Israel bombed Iran’s huge South Pars gas field and Iran responded by...

As the war in Iran rages and the consequences of the shock to commodity markets become clearer, the vulnerability of Asia’s economies tops the list of concerns in the research reports of investment banks. The region’s reliance on energy imports from the Gulf has come under scrutiny. The facts speak for themselves. Three-quarters of the oil supplies that passed through the Strait of Hormuz before Iran effectively closed the waterway were destined for China, India, Japan and South Korea. While...

Peace talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine on ending the Ukraine war, the deadliest European conflict since World War II, were on a “situational pause”, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Moscow’s statement followed a report by Russia’s Izvestia newspaper that the Iran war had temporarily ‌halted negotiations between ⁠Moscow, ⁠Washington and Kyiv. Kremlin ‌spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ‌Russia hoped ‌the ‌pause would end and ⁠another round of ⁠negotiations can be held. US President...

The first two months of 2026 saw a record number of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, despite fewer crossing attempts towards Europe, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At least 655 people died or went missing in January and February - more than double the 287 recorded for the same period last year. NGOs and researchers said the reasons were multiple: storms, complications for rescue operations and border closures. Frontex, the EU’s border control...

The United Nations has warned the conflict in the Middle East is sending shock waves from the fertiliser industry to food prices, as countries across the northern hemisphere – including China – enter their spring planting seasons. If the conflict lasts longer than three months, the impact would become “significantly more serious”, affecting input costs in agriculture and disrupting the next planting season with longer-term consequences, chief economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of...

Actor Val Kilmer will posthumously ⁠appear in what ⁠First Line Films calls a ⁠first-ever performance enabled by generative artificial intelligence in the upcoming film As Deep as the Grave, the production company announced on Wednesday. Kilmer, best known for roles in Top Gun, The Doors and Batman Forever, had originally been cast ‌as Father Fintan - a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist - but was unable to work on set due to complications stemming from throat cancer. He was 65 when...

The FBI is investigating whether Joe Kent, who resigned his position as a top counterterrorism official this week in protest of the Iran war, improperly shared classified information, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The investigation precedes Kent’s resignation Tuesday from his role as director of the US government’s National Counterterrorism Centre, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing FBI inquiry. But it comes as the Justice Department...

Britain will ⁠roll out meningitis vaccines to students at a university in southeast England after an “unprecedented” outbreak of the disease killed two people while the number of new cases jumped to 20. The UK Health Security Agency said all those affected were young people. A 21-year-old student at the University of Kent and a teenage student at a school in ‌the town of Faversham have died. Six of the nine confirmed cases are group B (MenB), the agency added. It was also aware of a baby with a...

Heavy social media use contributes to a stark decline in well-being among young people, with the effects particularly worrying in teenage girls in English-speaking countries and western Europe according to the World Happiness Report 2026 published on Thursday. The annual report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, also found that Finland was the happiest land in the world for the ninth year in a row, with other Nordic countries such as Iceland, Denmark, Sweden...

Spain’s King Felipe VI has been invited to the 2026 World Cup in Mexico by President Claudia Sheinbaum, the royal palace said on Wednesday, signalling a thaw in relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations have been strained since 2019, when the Mexican government demanded that the Spanish crown apologise for the abuses committed during the conquest and subsequent colonisation of the Americas in the 16th century. Sheinbaum excluded the king from her inauguration in October 2024...

When US President Donald Trump ⁠asked countries to join a global effort against Iran and deploy ships to prise open the Strait of Hormuz, whose near closure has held the global economy in a vice, he was rebuffed by some of America’s closest allies. Using unusually blunt language, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told his country’s lawmakers on Wednesday that he agreed Iran must not be allowed to pose a threat to its neighbours but expressed doubts about the rationale behind the US-Israeli...

Iran’s government has been degraded since the war began on February 28, but it ⁠appears to be intact and Tehran and its proxies remain capable of attacking US and allies’ interests in the Middle East, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Wednesday. “The regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded by Operation Epic Fury,” Gabbard said, referring to the US-Israel military campaign against Iran, in her opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s...

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, in defiance of President Donald Trump as the world’s largest economy battles stubborn inflation, weak labour demand and an “uncertain” outlook due to the war in Iran. The Fed’s 11-1 vote kept rates steady at a range between 3.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent, with officials flagging one expected rate cut by the end of the year. “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain,” the...

US President Donald Trump said an angry Israel had “violently lashed out” and attacked Iran’s major gas field, a significant escalation in the US-Israeli war, but said Israel would not make further such attacks unless Iran retaliated. Wednesday’s attack on the huge South Pars gas field prompted Iran to target energy facilities across the Gulf including the world’s largest gas plant in Qatar, a refinery in Saudi Arabia, gas facilities in the United Arab Emirates and refineries in Kuwait. The...

US President Donald Trump has announced a temporary 60-day suspension of the Jones Act, the century-old law that mandates cargo moving between domestic ports be transported on vessels built, operated and staffed by American citizens or permanent residents. The move comes in response to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a key chokepoint – amid the escalating US-Israeli war against Iran, which has triggered the most severe global oil supply disruption in recent history. The waiver allows...

Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In a statement, Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the pause in strikes on “terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan” would take effect at midnight on Wednesday and remain in place until midnight on Monday. “Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged the European Union to overcome a veto by Hungary on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) loan vital for his country. Zelensky, during a visit to Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, said he considered that the “main issue” of an EU summit to be held Thursday and Friday in Brussels. “We are really counting on the countries and the EU to find ways to resolve this issue,” he said. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – Russian...

Saudi Arabia is activating its Red Sea “Plan B” to divert crude via the port of Yanbu, allowing tankers – including Chinese very large crude carriers (VLCCs) – to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts warn the route has limited capacity. The move comes after Iran effectively closed the strait in response to United States and Israeli military strikes, a conflict now in its third week that has rattled global energy markets. New Vista, a VLCC owned by China Merchants Energy Shipping, had...

The Iranian women’s soccer team crossed the Turkish border into Iran on Wednesday to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there. Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran. Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match...

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the country’s forces had killed Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, adding that the military was authorised to kill any high-ranking Iranian official in its sights without seeking further approval. “Last night, Iran’s Intelligence Minister Khatib was also eliminated,” Katz said in a statement. The killing of Khatib comes soon after Israel killed Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, and another powerful figure, Gholam Reza...

Sweden’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that Iran had executed a Swedish citizen, after Iranian authorities announced the first execution of a man convicted of spying since the start of its war against Israel and the United States. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement. Since the man’s arrest during in June 2025, Sweden had “repeatedly raised the case at...

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported projectile impact on the grounds of the country’s only operational nuclear power plant that caused no damage. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening”, the Vienna-based agency posted on social media using an acronym for nuclear power plant. “No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported”. Agency head...

Satellite images are beginning to be released, giving a glimpse into the toll of the Iran war, with ships ablaze in an Iranian port and destroyed buildings at an American base. Information has so far been scarce about the damage being done across the Middle East, particularly when it’s inside closed military facilities, since the start of the war on February 28. The images come from Planet Labs PBC, a San Francisco-based firm used by media outlets, including Associated Press. Planet Labs has put...

Cuba’s leader on Tuesday said the US would face “unbreakable resistance” if it tries to take over the impoverished island nation, as communist authorities scrambled to fix a nationwide electricity blackout. Cuba’s government has been under increasingly crushing pressure, with Washington enforcing an oil blockade and openly stating it wants to end the nearly seven-decade-old US stand-off with the one-party communist state. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuba’s decision announced this week...

Thursday’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was supposed to see the two leaders sit down in advance of Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to ensure the allies were on the same page. Instead, with the US-China summit postponed and the Israel-US war on Iran going full blast, their meeting is likely to find Japan more on the defensive, according to analysts and former government officials. Takaichi would be trying to finesse shifting...

From around the turn of the century, a revived Confucianism was all the rage. Mainland Chinese academia heavily promoted it. Beijing politicised it as compatible with communist ideology. For state propaganda departments, Confucianism was repackaged as a cultural product for foreign consumption. That wave of interest subsequently died down, along with the closure of many Confucian Institutes around the world. So why study Confucius today? Well, why read any great philosopher? But there is a more...

Iran vowed on Wednesday a “decisive” retaliation for the death of its security chief Ali Larijani, firing off a wave of missiles at Israel which said it killed him in an air strike. A barrage of Iranian missiles killed two people near Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, while Gulf nations intercepted rockets and drones headed for targets including US bases in the region. Iran will hold funerals Wednesday for Larijani and another powerful figure killed Tuesday by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the...

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is leaving the fight with Iran and heading back to port, a US official familiar with the matter said, after a fire broke out in its laundry area and left at least two sailors with non-life-threatening injuries. The Ford would travel from its current location in the Red Sea to Souda Bay, on the Greek island of Crete, according to the official, who asked not to be identified discussing movements that were not public. The ship had stopped in Souda Bay in late...

A Chinese national and a Kenyan man were charged on Tuesday with unlawfully dealing in wildlife species after they were found in possession of hundreds of live ants stored in specialised tubes. The case was the latest focused on the alleged smuggling of ants in the East African country, where authorities last year described a growing trend in the trafficking of ants to markets in Europe and Asia. Officials have not said if the ants are sought after as pets or for other purposes. The suspects,...

Many of America’s founders were fiercely against taking steps that would make its government officials appear like kings, and that included featuring them on the country’s coins.

After the revelations of sex abuse, the public is left to make sense of the labor leader’s work and life.

The accusations of assault have rattled communities across the country that have revered the labor icon for decades.

In a caustic critique of the court issued on social media late Sunday night, the president inadvertently buttressed its independence.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist returned to the trumpet, for a new record featuring Nick Cave, Thom Yorke and a core cast of contemporary jazz luminaries.

The ruling provides temporary relief for 21 states seeking to stop the Trump administration from ending federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-transition care.

Its publisher, Hachette, will not release the novel in the United States and will discontinue its U.K. edition, citing its commitment to “original creative expression and storytelling.”

The new fund would operate alongside the Amazon founder’s A.I. start-up, Project Prometheus.

Taylor Frankie Paul, who was set to star in the TV show, had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after an encounter with her partner in 2023.

Meta announced changes that effectively leave Mr. Zuckerberg’s vision of an immersive digital world based in virtual reality only on life support.

It should never have come to this.

Be careful what you wish for.

The National Transportation Safety Board said that it was investigating a “close call” that happened as the planes were landing on Tuesday evening.

Estefany Maria Rodriguez Florez, who works for a Spanish-language outlet, was released on bond in a case that has raised concerns about press freedom.

A Russian oil tanker is being closely tracked to see if it will challenge the Trump administration’s blockade on Cuba.

James Gracey, 20, a student at the University of Alabama, disappeared during a visit to a beachfront nightclub in Barcelona. His body was found on Thursday, the police said.