Minimalist News

India Summons Russian Envoy, Furious At Mass Casualty Tanker Strike In Black Sea Tit-for-tat attacks on shipping between Ukraine and Russia have ratcheted of late in the Black Sea. At least half a dozen commercial vessels have been attacked in these waters over the past two weeks alone. The situation is almost becoming akin to a Hormuz crisis in its own right, as oil transit slows . Tragically, there's a mounting death toll among crew members caught in the crossfire. One of the biggest single casualty events - if not the biggest - was the result of a Russian attack

The UK Censors The Net 'For The Children' Authored by Ted Newson via AmericanThinker.com, Outgoing British prime ministers have a tendency to rapidly expand the remit of the state in their final days. Theresa May tied a Net Zero target into law, Rishi Sunak implemented a generational smoking ban. Keir Starmer is no exception. The British state has now outlawed social media usage for those under sixteen. On June 15, Starmer stood at Downing Street to announce that Britain would ban under-16s from social media, after intense pressure from campaigners. Possibly his last meaningful political action before resigning on June

Spain's World Cup Hero Rocks 'Make Spain Great Again' Hat Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Spain are the world champions again. Ferran Torres came off the bench and smashed home the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final in the 106th minute against Argentina. The next day, as the open-top bus rolled through Madrid and nearly two million Spaniards packed the streets, the hero of the final stood shirtless, draped in the national flag, and wearing a bright red baseball cap that read "Make Spain Great Again." The image spread instantly. It was impossible to miss

'Birthright Senatorship'? - Graham's Sister Announces Bid For Full Term As Mace Opts Out Three days after President Trump publicly urged her to run, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham on Monday afternoon announced that -- unsatisfied with serving as an obviously unqualified interim senator through January -- she will run for the full six-year-term that starts in January. The development seemed to brush another potential candidate off the plate, but another one joined the field on Monday. Possibly seeing Trump's endorsement as too ridiculous to be fully intimidating, others may join a field that officially has five

Data Centers Were Responsible For 46% Of PJM's Last Four Capacity Auction Costs By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive Data centers are responsible for $6.3 billion, or 38%, of the $16.4 billion in charges from the PJM Interconnection’s just-held capacity auction , Joseph Bowring, president of Monitoring Analytics, said in an email to Utility Dive. Monitoring Analytics is the grid operator’s independent market monitor. In PJM’s last four base capacity auctions, data center-driven capacity charges totaled $29.4 billion — 46% of the $63.6 billion in total capacity charges in that period , Bowring said. Monitoring Analytics plans to publish its analysis

CIA Distances Itself From Trump's Iran War With Media Leak It seems that CIA and other US intelligence officials hope to distance themselves from Trump's Iran war , now with the US-initiated conflict having dragged on for nearly five months (with no end in sight), after White House officials had in the opening days touted a swift, limited military excursion. They are leaking intelligence to the press which shows they have assessed that current American strikes on Iran are unlikely to change Iran's negotiating position . With tankers in Hormuz on fire and others too afraid to move, Iran is

DOJ Probing Harvard Over Financial Aid Programs Linked To China-Based Sources Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , The Justice Department (DOJ) said on July 20 that it was investigating whether Harvard University violated Title VI by excluding American students from financial aid programs funded by China-based sources. Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 4, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times The DOJ announced that Harvard's foreign funding disclosures raised concerns about its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin. Universities are required by federal law to report gifts

Oklo, X-Energy Join $200 Million Federal Nuclear Push For AI: Bloomberg Bloomberg reports that reactor developers Oklo and X-energy are joining a $200 million Trump administration-led program designed to speed new nuclear power plants for artificial intelligence data centers. Details could be announced Wednesday at a Department of Energy AI energy summit. Microsoft and Nvidia are also involved in the previously announced initiative, while several DOE national laboratories and the University of Texas at Austin are slated to share $60 million over three years , according to a document seen by Bloomberg. “Among the goals of the latest initiative are

India Keeps Buying Russian Oil At Near-Record Pace Despite Expired Waiver Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, India's crude oil imports have remained close to record-high levels in July despite the end of the U.S. waiver the previous month. The U.S. quietly let the waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on June 17, just as the U.S. and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal. Yet, Indian imports of Russian crude has continued to flow in July, many of which may have been cargoes that were arranged during the window

Ukraine's Army Chief Latest To Fall Victim To Zelensky's Risky Reshuffle Zelensky strikes again in another major military firing, amid his promised big cabinet and military 'reshuffle'. The Ukrainian president announced Tuesday that he was dismissing Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of country's army, and appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place . Syrsky was in the post for nearly two-and-a-half years, since February 2024. Now former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky "I have decided that the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be Mykhailo Drapaty... I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrsky and

Thousands Of Noncitizens Registered To Vote In New Jersey, Governor Admits Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times , New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said a software error in the state's Motor Vehicle Commission system resulted in roughly 6,600 people who indicated they were not U.S. citizens being registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024. New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), speaks to the media after casting her vote in Montclair, N.J., on Nov. 4, 2025. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images Sherrill said in a statement that the individuals answered "no" when asked on

'I See Dead People': Treasury Blocks $99 Million In Federal Payments To Deceased Americans The Treasury Department announced Tuesday morning that it has successfully implemented new safeguards to prevent government payments to dead people in an effort to reduce waste and fraud. The verification system includes screening 885 million federal payments against expanded death records, effectively auditing payments totaling nearly $2.7 trillion. It has already flagged and stopped payments totaling roughly $99 million that had been marked to be sent to dead people. "Treasury has delivered on a key promise of President Trump’s mandate to stop improper payments and fraud

"Who The F**k Is This?": Jon Stewart Thinks He Discovered Trump's Body Double Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Jon Stewart spent a chunk of Monday's Daily Show convinced America had just unlocked a secret presidential spare after spotting a mysterious figure strolling behind President Donald Trump on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. The late-night comic was already deep into his usual routine of roasting Trump when he focused on the appearance of someone who resembled the President in the background of the Trump's gaggle with reporters. Stewart had been needling Trump for lingering onstage during Spain's

"Safeguard Our Homeland": FCC Moves To Ban Foreign Military-Grade Drone Imports A little more than a week after we exposed military-grade interceptor drones being openly marketed on Facebook as dual-use technology by a Hong Kong-based company, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced a proposal to prohibit the importation and sale of foreign-produced military-grade drones in the U.S. " Today, the FCC took additional action to safeguard our homeland. We have proposed banning the sale of foreign, military-grade drones, including those capable of swarming ," Carr wrote on X, adding, "Another step to strengthening and securing America's drone supply chain." Today, the

Cuban President Warns "McCarthyism Is Back" As US Begins Fight Against Marxist Subversion Networks One day after the US government convened delegations from 65 countries at the Harry S Truman Building in Washington to coordinate action against far-left extremism and Marxist subversion networks across the West, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded sharply in a post on X, signaling grave concern that the Trump administration intends to unleash a new era of McCarthyism to combat the "radical left." " A new and more dangerous version of McCarthyism is back in the United States ," Díaz-Canel wrote on X one day after

This Sex Robot Is Going To 'Teach' Your Kids In Schools Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , A rural New York school district on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to become one of the first in the United States to place a lifelike humanoid robot in front of high school students. Starting this fall, Salamanca High School will introduce "Sally," an M-Series robot built by Realbotix, to assist in coding, robotics, and AI classes for 11th and 12th graders. Sally comes with brown hair, silicone skin, a Western New York accent, upper-body movement, and facial expressions. She

Democrats Are Fighting A Civil War, And Bernie Sanders Started It Democrats desperately want to retake the House in November, not just to thwart President Donald Trump's legislative agenda, but to launch countless investigations under the guise of oversight. However, their most stubborn obstacle to achieving this goal isn't President Trump or the Republican Party. The biggest obstacle actually sits inside their own party. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has spent this cycle bankrolling primary challengers against sitting Democrats, and the fight has split the party into two camps that can barely stand each other. Sanders recently announced plans to defeat

DOJ Seeks To Rescind US Citizenship Granted To 10 Individuals Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday that it has filed to denaturalize 10 individuals charged or convicted with various crimes, including offenses against minors. “Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,” the DOJ said in a July 20 statement, adding that the Trump administration was continuing its “largest denaturalization effort

The Conflicts Brewing In America's Ten Classes Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, What we do know is that things have internal structures with dynamics that operate whether we "like" them or not. Correspondent Manoj S. recommended an essay from the always-insightful John Michael Greer on the dissolution of unproductive classes behind the smokescreen of AI : A Game of Musical Chairs "You can sell Americans on anything, no matter how wretchedly unsatisfactory it is, by labeling it as progress. That's what's being done now, with AI being used as a justification for firing useless workers, deleting unnecessary

Lockheed Unveils Move Towards Cheaper Patriot Missiles As Interceptor Stockpiles Dwindle With US-Iran tit-for-tat strikes on their ninth day and the Russia-Ukraine war grinding on in Eastern Europe, US inventories of certain air-delivered munitions are being depleted. This has made the rapid procurement of lower-cost missiles and bombs a top priority for the Trump administration. The Wall Street Journal reports that defense giant Lockheed Martin is planning a low-cost version of the Patriot interceptor missile that will cost less than half as much as the current version. The PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector will cost less than half the price of

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for US Breaking News email US gas prices have continued to rise since the conflict with Iran resumed this month. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), a gallon of fuel is now just over $4 – almost a dollar more than a year ago. It comes as Brent Crude , the international oil benchmark, is now up by almost 2% to $90.92 a barrel . Continue reading...

The ribbon-cutting celebration of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is no longer taking place after Trump announced a 50% tariff on Canadian goods A planned joint US-Canada ceremony Friday celebrating the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is no longer expected to take place after Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on most Canadian goods. In announcing the tariffs, the president accused Canada of unfairly discriminating against US automobiles, alcohol and dairy products, escalating tensions with one of the United States’ closest allies. Continue reading...

Meliá group says Donald Trump’s sanctions make it ‘impossible’ to keep any of its 34 sites open A Spanish hotel chain is to cease all operations in Cuba at the end of the week due to “major difficulties” in doing business on the island under growing pressure from Washington. The latest US sanctions make it “impossible, de facto and de jure, to maintain even minimal operational stability”, the Meliá group explained in a statement on Tuesday to the Spanish stock market regulator. Continue reading...

State department’s 100-page report is latest push in Trump administration campaign to bring down government The US government’s latest allegations that Cuba is behind “many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history” and that its leaders pose “a unique threat to American homeland security” have come as startling revelations to those living under the six-month-long US oil blockade in Havana, where desperate people search through piles of uncollected rubbish for food, or else swelter at home in 24-hour-plus blackouts. The unsigned 100-page report, Cuba: Capital of 21st-Century Communism, published by the US state department on Monday, blames

Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, as members said they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts. Thirteen communities in Ontario province have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Penny Wong will deliver speech criticising China’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Penny Wong will warn China that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week. The foreign affairs minister – who will deliver the address on Thursday in the Philippines, where the 59th Asean foreign minister’s meeting is being held – will also caution world leaders against placing a toll on the strait of Hormuz after both

Prosecutors seek a one-year sentence and heavy fine after chef garnished dish with insects not approved for consumption Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to sentence the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant to one year in prison for serving a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under local food safety law. The request, made on Monday, also sought a 20m won (£10,108) fine for the company that runs the restaurant, Yonhap news agency reported . Continue reading...

In April Japan coined new term kokushobi for days above 40C as country advises workers to wear shorts to the office to cope with stifling heat Japan logged its first official kokushobi or “cruelly hot day” on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common. The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture,

Many of the more than 100 people awaiting processing on the tiny Pacific island are skipping meals to make ends meet, a new survey has found Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Most refugees and asylum seekers held in Nauru’s detention centres say they cannot afford to buy enough food or access clean drinking water, despite the Australian government spending the equivalent of more than $9m per person last financial year. The group of more than 100 people have been sent indefinitely to the tiny

Distillery owner could face only three months in jail over alleged poisoning of Australian teenagers Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has increased its travel alert level for Laos, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to the risk of methanol poisoning. It comes as a distillery owner in Laos was charged after a mass methanol poisoning incident killed six foreign nationals, including the Australian backpackers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns , says the state’s Labor party is under threat from One Nation and “we’ve got to fight for those votes”. Appearing on ABC Radio National this morning, Minns was asked if One Nation was a “racist party”. He said people who had concerns about the levels of immigration weren’t necessarily racist but some of the things Pauline Hanson had said were. Certainly some of the things Pauline Hanson says are definitely racist, when she said there’s

Ten-second ‘siren’ to blare on most phones on Monday as part of national test despite reservations from some states Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An unsilenceable siren will blare out of most phones in Australia on Monday afternoon for 10 seconds, with the federal government confirming a national test of the new AusAlert emergency alert system will go ahead, despite reservations from some state governments. Domestic violence campaigners and the National Emergency Management Agency have also repeated advice that people who may have secret

One Nation leader criticised by advocates after telling women being abused: ‘don’t put up with it’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Pauline Hanson has described domestic violence as “wrong” but a “two-way street”, and that women being abused should not put up with it, drawing condemnation from advocates who have accused the One Nation leader of victim-blaming. On Wednesday, Hanson told radio station 4BC domestic violence in Australia was a scourge but that society was under “so much pressure”, when asked to call out

Prosecutor tells court that ‘gaps or inconsistencies’ in the woman’s account ‘enhances her credibility’, but the defence maintains she is lying Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A woman who accused a well-connected Melbourne man of rape “could have done a much better job” if she was inventing the story for money, a Melbourne court has heard. But the accused’s lawyer has described the prosecution’s case as a “horrendous mixture” of “lies, fabrications, inconsistencies, [and] evidence that has been found to be demonstrably untrue”. Continue

Judge finds Wilson did not defame Charlotte MacInnes, lead actor in Pitch Perfect star’s directorial debut The Deb Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast After a blistering dispute that spanned continents and years, Hollywood A-lister Rebel Wilson has been found not to have defamed her co-star in a series of social media posts. The Pitch Perfect star was sued by Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut film The Deb. Continue reading...

EU ambassadors head to Brussels aiming to sign off on 21st package of sanctions, after previous attempts ended without success The Venice Biennale said it would challenge a European Union decision to withdraw a €2 ⁠million grant in response to the return of Russia to its 2026 edition, despite continuing aggression on Ukraine, Reuters reported. The Italian government sharply criticised the move, while the European Commission warned it ​would suspend or terminate funding if the Russian ‌pavilion returned. Continue reading...

Equinor benefits from move to increase oil and gas production during strait of Hormuz blockades Business live – latest updates Profits at Norway’s state oil company nearly doubled to $11.5bn (£8.6bn) in the three months to the end of June as the jump in oil and gas prices caused by the war against Iran boosted earnings. Equinor benefited from a decision to increase oil and gas production at the start of the conflict, filling a gap in the market after a near-halt to shipping through the strait of Hormuz caused Gulf oil flows to slump. Continue reading...

Greenpeace petitions Dutch courts to order JBS to disclose how its aims are compatible with responsibilities to climate and human rights The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights. Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments. Continue reading...

After nationwide protests Oleksandr Syrskyi is to be replaced in reshuffle and popular defence minister returns to government Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a “prominent position” to the defence minister he sacked last week in a move that sparked nationwide protests . In a late-night TV address, Zelenskyy said he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular and innovative general, as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces. Drapatyi would oversee a reorganisation of the army’s command structure, Ukraine’s president said. Continue reading...

Parliament votes to stop children using apps such as TikTok in policy championed by Emmanuel Macron France’s parliament has approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making it the first EU country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. The president, Emmanuel Macron, has championed the ban as a key reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. Continue reading...

US military completes 11th night of strikes as attacks overshadow diplomatic efforts in Pakistan to salvage interim ceasefire deal Houthis threaten attacks on shipping tankers if they use Saudi ports on Red Sea What is Pickaxe Mountain, Iran’s underground nuclear facility? The Jordanian army said it intercepted four Iranian missiles on Wednesday with two additional missile falling in an open area, AFP reports. The two missiles that the army did not intercept fell in “two remote, uninhabited areas, without causing any human casualties or material damage” the army said in a statement. Continue reading...

New York mayor admits he does not have authority to arrest Netanyahu, adding Israeli PM is ‘architect of a horrific genocide’ Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, acknowledged on Tuesday he does not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, but urged US federal authorities to do so if the Israeli prime minister visits the US later this year. “Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” Mamdani said in a video posted to social media. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: ​A White House operating without expertise, strategy or restraint ​is stuck in a conflict with no easy way out, which is sending economic shockwaves far beyond its own borders Good morning. Within two hours of entering No 10 on Monday afternoon, Andy Burnham had his first call with Donald Trump. After chit-chatting about the football (both agreed England had an “excellent tournament”) and Manchester (our new prime minister invited the president to visit the city Trump once described as a “town”), they got on to far trickier territory: the strait of Hormuz. The US has attacked Iran

Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car. In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to

This blog is now closed. Read our latest full report here . Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, is due to meet Donald Trump for the first time today as he wraps up a four-day visit to Washington. The meeting coincides with ongoing US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel. The two sides announced a “framework agreement” on 26 June which stipulates the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah. Continue reading...

Proceedings suspended as politicians call for Modi government to address police violence and education scandals India’s opposition parties have shut down parliament in a protest calling for the resignation of the education minister, in solidarity with the new youth-led “cockroach” movement . Opposition politicians, led by the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, gathered outside the parliament building in Delhi on Wednesday, many dressed in black and waving placards calling on Dharmendra Pradhan to quit. Continue reading...

Thousands of people again on the streets of Delhi calling for education reforms despite police violence on Monday Taru had come to the protest prepared this time. In one hand was an anti-government poster and in the other was a bicycle helmet. “We need to have protection in case Delhi police beat us up again,” said the 25-year-old, who stood among her friends. “We are not scared of them and we won’t run away, no matter what they do. We’ll stay here till they listen.” On Tuesday, central Delhi still thronged with thousands of protesters, as an unprecedented expression of

National disaster agency confirms ‘severe financial and human losses’ in eastern province of Nuristan Rescue crews in Afghanistan are searching for survivors and bodies among the rubble of houses destroyed by devastating flash floods that authorities said had killed nearly two dozen people and left more than 100 people missing. The Afghanistan national disaster management authority said on Tuesday that 23 people had died, 80 had been injured and more than 100 were missing after floods struck the eastern province of Nuristan on Monday, causing an undetermined number of buildings to collapse. The provincial capital city of Parun was among

Youth-led group calls on education minister to quit in one of India’s largest anti-government rallies in years Tens of thousands of protesters have defied police orders and descended on Delhi to demand the resignation of India’s education minister in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in years. A huge crowd, largely made up of students and gen Z-ers, filled the streets in the heart of India’s capital from early Monday morning shouting anti-government slogans. Hundreds had already camped out overnight. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Outdoor workers losing up to 9% of income as weather becomes ‘poverty multiplier’, research says Extreme heat is pushing some of India’s poorest workers further into poverty, with income losses of up to 9% for outdoor workers, new research has found. Analysis done by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that extreme heat is acting as a “poverty multiplier” for hundreds of millions of workers in India’s informal sector. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham was speaking to reporters during a visit to Bath Wes Streeting said the US president was “right” to demand Europe pays more for its own defence. Donald Trump has been increasingly critical of Europe for relying too much on the US for its security, and has demanded Nato allies reach 5% of GDP on defence spending by 2035. President Trump has called on Europe to carry a greater share of the burden for our own defence, and he is right to do so. The UK has always been a leading light on defence spending, but the world is

Victims of crime say it’s ‘no laughing matter’ after ministers caught on hot mic ‘ribbing’ about scheme UK politics live – latest updates Victims of crime have accused ministers of making “cheap jokes” about releasing prisoners early after Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood apologised after being caught on camera “ribbing” about the scheme. In a video, the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, can be seen walking towards Mahmood and Streeting, the new defence secretary, who can be heard calling Norris “the enemy now”, while Mahmood responds “no he’s not”. Continue reading...

John Neal failed to disclose relationship with female colleague that risked triggering conflict of interest concerns Lloyd’s of London has ruled that its former boss John Neal breached compliance rules by failing to disclose a “close relationship” with a female colleague that risked triggering conflict of interest concerns at the insurance market. An investigation by the Council of Lloyd’s, which is responsible for the market’s management and supervision, said it could not find any “conclusive evidence” Neal was romantically involved with the company’s then corporate affairs director, nor that there were any process failures relating to her promotion during Neal’s

Pub chain blames worse-than-expected sales on rising costs for workers, food, energy and property taxes Business live – latest updates JD Wetherspoon has issued its fourth profit warning in seven months, with the pub chain blaming worse-than-expected sales, despite the World Cup, as it struggled with rising costs for food, workers, energy and property taxes. Shares in the pub chain tumbled 10% on Wednesday morning as its chair, Tim Martin, warned that profits would fall short of forecasts when it reports full-year earnings in October. Continue reading...

Measure to cost more than £500m, with money allocated to allow devolved nations to do the same Single bus fares across England will be capped at £2 from January, Andy Burnham has announced, as he continues a cost of living blitz in his first week as prime minister. The nationwide cap is currently set at £3 until the end of March 2027, although some areas – including London and Greater Manchester, where Burnham set a £2 limit as mayor – have lower top rates for single tickets. Continue reading...

Andy Biggs – a hard-right congressman endorsed by Donald Trump – won the Republican nomination for Arizona governor Nicolás Maduro returns to court with his lawyers Wednesday and is expected to continue objecting to the US military action that snatched the Venezuelan president from power and deposited him in New York to face drug trafficking charges. Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail ever since US forces seized them from their Caracas home in a stunning middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January. Continue reading...

Family and boxing community grieving deeply after Rapp was killed by motorist while she was cycling in Texas The violent death of the US boxer Hannah Rapp , whom authorities say was killed recently by a motorist while she cycled, has left her sport, her communities outside the ring and her loved ones grieving deeply just weeks after she took her first world title shot. A statement from the Bryan Boxing gym where Rapp trained in Texas commemorated her as “an amazing lady and soul” while the Aggieland Cycling club to which she belonged recalled how her “kindness and excitement

New survey reveals one in 10 Americans identify politics as biggest risk they face in life – 10 times the global average Americans are 10 times more likely than people elsewhere in the world to regard politics as the greatest threat to their personal safety, according to a global survey that suggests the country’s deep partisan divisions are poisoning everyday life. The latest Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll found that one in 10 Americans identified politics as the biggest risk they face in their daily lives when asked an open-ended question. The figure is up from 6% in both

Firm behind ChatGPT reveals agent powered by its models chose to attack Hugging Face database by itself OpenAI has revealed an autonomous AI agent powered by its technology went rogue during a test, accessed the open web and hacked a prominent startup by itself in an “unprecedented incident”. The company behind ChatGPT said the startup Hugging Face had detected and contained the agent – an AI tool designed to carry out tasks without human assistance – which had entered its systems. Continue reading...

The victory for Andy Biggs, who was a central figure in the effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat, sets up a high-stakes contest in the battleground state Arizona voters on Tuesday chose their nominees for governor, Congress and other top offices, setting up a fall campaign that will test whether Republicans can reverse some of the Trump-era losses they suffered in a premier battleground state. Andy Biggs, the hard-right congressman endorsed by Donald Trump, easily won the Republican nomination to challenge the incumbent Democrat, governor Katie Hobbs. Continue reading...

Over the past year, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has seen rapid development in Central Asia. This has been evidenced by the launch of several railway and road routes connecting China’s industrial and economic centres to logistics hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. China’s improved transport to the region reflects two interrelated trends: growing trade momentum and Central Asia’s strengthening position in continental logistics. Last year, China became the largest trading partner...

US President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to help Lebanon “a lot” as its president, Joseph Aoun, sought Washington’s backing for a fragile effort to disarm Hezbollah and forge a path to peace with Israel. Aoun, the first Lebanese president invited to Washington since 2009, asked Trump for political support and continued backing for the Lebanese army, which has begun deploying in southern areas under a US-backed framework agreement with Israel. “We need to support the LAF,” Aoun said, referring...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday sacked his Soviet-trained army chief Oleksandr Syrsky following a political crisis triggered by the removal of a popular, young and tech-savvy defence minister. The Ukrainian leader announced he was appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place. Syrsky, 60, had served in the role since 2024 and was among Kyiv’s most experienced commanders, having led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. His...

France’s parliament on Tuesday approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making France the first European country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. President Emmanuel Macron has championed the ban as a flagship reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers,” Macron said in a video posted on social media, hailing “a major step forward”. He...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is using another tariff threat to put fresh pressure on Canadian provinces to end their boycotts of American alcohol. But provincial leaders are not backing off. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would not lift his province’s ban on the sale of American wine and spirits in government-run stores unless the US removes sectoral tariffs on cars and steel. “We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness. And we need to throw everything on the table,” he...

The ⁠man accused of murdering former ⁠government minister Ann Widdecombe struck her 21 times on the top of her head with a hammer during the attack at her home earlier this ‌month, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday. Widdecombe, 78, who was a prominent figure in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK but no longer a member of parliament, was found dead at her home in rural southwest England on ⁠July 9 after being attacked the day before. Police have said they believe Widdecombe had been...

Asia’s oil buyers are facing the risk of a second maritime chokepoint being disrupted after Iran-aligned Houthi militants threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, even as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain severely disrupted by the US-Iran conflict. Analysts said any serious disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could leave Asia with fewer alternatives for Middle Eastern crude, threatening Saudi shipments and increasing the risk of oil prices rising above US$100 per...

A man suspected of fatally shooting six child welfare workers at a shelter for mothers in Stade in northern Germany last month died by suicide in jail on Tuesday, officials said. The suspect, who has been partially identified in German media as 45-year-old Fatih Khan G., was found dead by jail staff in his single cell early Tuesday, the Lower Saxony state justice ministry said in a statement. The ministry said there are “currently no indications of third-party involvement” in the suspect’s death...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Tuesday he would cut taxes ⁠on electricity bills, the first of several early moves to signal his intent to ease a cost-of-living crisis and quell anger over successive governments’ failure to bring change. On his second day in his new job, Burnham said his government would remove the value-added tax from domestic electricity bills from October 1, cutting around £45 from the average annual bill of around £1,862 that households pay. With bond investors...

The China threat has landed in Brussels. A new European Union position paper accuses Beijing of amplifying security threats, posing “a critical long-term strategic challenge” and reviving “sphere-of-influence logic” to reshape the global order. Beijing is cast as an enabler of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while its “assertive behaviour” in the South China Sea threatens European and Indo-Pacific security, stability and prosperity. The document, “Common Understanding: The Threats and Challenges...

While Beijing has lifted refined fuel export restrictions this month amid elevated global oil prices and ample national reserves, it has also introduced compliance requirements for refiners – a cautious pivot aimed at safeguarding domestic stockpiles, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. “With the interim truce between Washington and Tehran having collapsed, Beijing has adopted a more cautious stance on easing curbs for fuel exports,” a person familiar with the matter said in...

Nvidia’s H200 chips, a step down from its most advanced Blackwell line, have resumed imports into China, albeit in small quantities. Meanwhile, China’s chip exports nearly doubled in the first half of this year. Much of these exports are mature logic integrated circuits for applications in consumer electronics and automotive sectors. While the US is the undisputed leader in the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, China is emerging as a dominant player in mass market legacy...

A man stabbed and wounded two tourists Tuesday morning near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction, police said, in what appeared to be a random attack. The assailant attacked a man and a woman, both Greek Americans, with a knife on a pedestrian street near an entrance to the Acropolis itself and near the entrance to the Acropolis Museum, which lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill. The 53-year-old male victim suffered a serious wound to his arm which required a...

Nicaragua’s long-serving President Daniel Ortega said the Central American country will no longer hold elections, eliminating the possibility of an electoral challenge when his term ends next year and further entrenching the rule he shares with his wife. Ortega, who has continuously held power since 2007 following an earlier presidential term ‌in the 1980s, said the move will close off any path to the opposition, although he did not provide details about carrying out the ban. “There won’t be any...

Iran targeted US radar and air defence installations in the Gulf on Tuesday, warning Washington of “more decisive and powerful” attacks to come as the conflict threatened to widen with a blockade of Saudi ports by Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked and stopped two “non-compliant oil tankers” attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, part of an effort to tighten its grip on the vital waterway while the war reignited. Following the deaths of at least three...

The US Department of Justice said on Monday it launched a probe reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programmes were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against ‌the university by President Donald Trump’s administration. “The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-based financial aid programmes and practices exclude American-citizen students,” the department said...

US President Donald Trump signed orders on Monday to impose new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods, claiming “discriminatory treatment” by Ottawa against American alcohol, automobile and dairy products. The tariffs take effect in 30 days and cover various items including wine, hockey sticks and cement, said the White House. Trump, who saw many of his tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court this year, tapped an untested legal provision for the new duties – Section 338 of the Tariff Act...

Oil prices are set to rise once more as renewed US attacks on Iran leave the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of oil trade, closed again. With US strategic petroleum reserves at their lowest in over 40 years, America will have trouble keeping oil prices below US$100 a barrel, as it has mostly done in the war so far. Analysts warn that sustained oil prices above US$100 risk accelerating inflation, depressing consumption and inviting recession. They have also turned their attention to China and...

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery to temporarily pause their merger while a case brought by multiple states challenging the deal moves forward. The companies are prohibited from closing their US$110 billion deal for 14 days until another hearing is held on August 3 regarding a preliminary injunction, which would prevent Paramount and Warner Bros from closing the transaction before a final decision is reached. The states raised “serious...

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said on Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court on Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and were being held in federal detention. In the coming weeks, a US district judge would consider whether they meet the conditions for...

Chess legend Judit Polgar on Monday turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s offer to join his push to break with the Viktor Orban era as the country’s president. The pro-European conservative had nominated Polgar, widely considered the greatest woman to have taken to the chequered board, as a figure from outside politics to help carry out his promise of “regime change” from Orban’s hardline 16-year tenure. “I do not feel I have the strength to take on the historic responsibility of...

Chinese ⁠Premier ⁠Li Qiang on Monday extended congratulations to Andy Burnham on ‌becoming Britain’s new prime minister. Strengthening dialogue and cooperation between ⁠China and Britain will benefit ‌the two countries and “inject stability into global ‌peace”, Li said in ⁠his ⁠message, Reuters reported. “I am willing to ‌work with the prime minister ‌to strengthen exchanges, ‌enhance mutual ‌trust, promote communication and cooperation, ⁠and advance the long-term, ⁠stable comprehensive...

British prosecutors said ⁠on Monday a 28-year-old man ⁠had been charged with murdering ⁠former government minister Ann Widdecombe, and police said they were still investigating why she was attacked. Widdecombe, 78, who was a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, was found at her home in rural southwest England on July 9, ‌after sustaining what police described as serious injuries. She stood down from parliament in 2010. Joshua Kerry, a white British national from northern...

Hungary’s government announced an investigation on Monday into a large foreign investment by Chinese carmaker BYD negotiated by a former foreign minister who last week resigned from parliament to take an executive position at the company. Peter Szijjarto’s announcement last Wednesday that he would take the job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest and criticism over his role in organising substantial government subsidies to the company while in...

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced on Monday to life in prison in the US, after a plea deal last year in which he admitted to shipping millions ‌of kilograms of cocaine over decades as leader of the violent Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced in a US court since fellow Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019. In handing down the sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal...

As trade tensions with China reach boiling point, EU officials are ramping up engagement with Beijing in search of an off-ramp. Quietly behind the scenes, though, Europe is preparing for a trade war. In Brussels, a steely determination has set in to ensure the bloc’s manufacturing heartlands are not deindustrialised by the “China Shock 2.0”. With some industries already haemorrhaging jobs, the EU’s resilience-building and de-risking plans are now laced with deterrents as Brussels looks to...

Andy Burnham took office on Monday as Britain’s new prime minister, promising a 10-year plan to restore political stability and revive the economy while acknowledging that six other UK leaders have tried and failed to do so in the past decade. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street minutes after being formally appointed by King Charles, Burnham pledged to ease the cost of living for ordinary people, decentralise political power, revitalise industry and end street sleeping by homeless people. He said...

A teenager died and several people were injured during celebrations of Spain’s victory in the World Cup after a fountain collapsed in western Spain, local authorities and media said on Monday. “The city hall of Ciudad Rodrigo expresses its sadness and presents its condolences for the death of a boy of 13,” the municipality said in a Facebook post. “What should have been a celebration of Spain’s team in the football World Cup turned into tragedy,” it said, adding that several others were...

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Monday that it had elected Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, as the new head of its political bureau. “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announces the election of brother mujahid Khalil al-Hayya as head of the movement’s political bureau, succeeding the martyred leader Yahya al-Sinwar,” Hamas said in a statement. Sinwar, whom Israel accused of being one of the principal architects of the...

Facing Europe’s ever-widening trade deficit with Beijing, Berlin is increasingly singing the same tune as Paris. The two nations displayed a united front at this year’s Franco-German Ministerial Council, which will soon be put on paper in a joint road map due by September at the request of Germany. “Our work between Germany and France is indispensable at a time when Russia threatens our security, when the People’s Republic of China challenges our economy, and when the transatlantic partnership...

The EU on Monday slapped a €550 million (US$630 million) fine on online retailer AliExpress for allowing the sale of illegal products, including unsafe toys and cosmetics. The European Union said AliExpress also did not do enough to stop the sale of counterfeit products and that when the platform detected illegal goods were on sale, many remained online for several weeks. The EU found some of the products sold on the platform did not meet the bloc’s strict environmental and safety standards...

North Korea’s top diplomat was in Moscow this weekend for talks analysts say likely focused on fresh ammunition and missile shipments to feed Russia’s war in Ukraine, while also laying the groundwork for a possible visit by Kim Jong-un. Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met Vladimir Putin on Sunday, more than two years after Russia’s president had invited Kim to Moscow during their landmark summit in Pyongyang in June 2024. On Sunday, Putin expressed fresh gratitude for North Korea’s assistance in...

Lockheed Martin announced a lower-cost Patriot interceptor on Monday as militaries seek cheaper ways to counter drones ‌and missiles, while defence contractors face competition from start-ups making low-cost weapons that can be produced at scale. Lockheed said its new PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile would cost less than half as much as its PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which cost roughly US$4 million per missile, according to US Army budget documents. Initial production could ⁠start...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China built megaprojects in Ivory Coast, now it’s own role is changing Beijing is transitioning from contractor to stakeholder in the fast-growing African economy, with US$209 million tourist complex in the mix. 2. Sun Fanglin, Chinese scientist who paved way for new cancer drugs, dies at...

US President Donald Trump said that the ⁠Qatari-donated jet that served as an Air ⁠Force One plane would soon be sent away for upgrades, following questions about the plane’s security features. Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July 1 after accepting the plane as a gift last year, when an accelerated effort to renovate the ‌Boeing 747 for presidential use began. But Trump unexpectedly ditched the plane on a flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom amid rising hostility with Iran on...

US President Donald Trump ⁠said that he told Canadian ⁠Prime Minister Mark Carney that Canada must do better at controlling Ontario wildfires whose smoke has affected several US states. The day after threatening to levy additional tariffs ‌on Canadian goods to punish Canada over the wildfire smoke, Trump said he spoke to Carney at the Fifa World Cup final that both of them attended on Sunday. “I have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but we’ve got to ⁠stop the fires up there,” Trump told...

Iran is fighting a “full-scale war” with the United States, its president said on Monday, as Washington expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic. The declaration came as Tehran’s Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, threatened to broaden the war even further by announcing they would blockade Saudi ports, putting at risk Riyadh’s ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some of its oil exports. Throughout the war, which began in late February, Iran has hit countries across the region,...

Ukraine said on Sunday that Russian missile strikes on a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain had killed six people, hours after Moscow fired a fresh barrage of missiles at Kyiv. Ukraine’s navy said Russia had launched three cruise missiles at the Golden Leo, which flies the flag of Guinea-Bissau, as it was “leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain”. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the crew had included citizens of Syria and India, while Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said the vessel...

At least 27 people are dead and 83 more are missing after a ferry capsized off the coast of Guyana over the weekend, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said on Monday. The search for survivors is continuing after the MV Barima flipped over late on Saturday, with Phillips telling a press conference that 69 people had been rescued so far. The previous death toll had stood at 10. The ageing ferry MV Barima left the small English-speaking country at the northeast corner of South America on Saturday...

The US military on Sunday reported the death of another US soldier, bringing the total US military death toll in the Iran war to 17. In a post on social media, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a soldier was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. A second soldier sustained minor injuries and is continuing to receive medical treatment, it said. This came a day after the US military reported that two...

Musical headliners Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber, BTS and Coldplay were joined by Brazilian football icons and Ted Lasso actors in a spectacular first-ever Fifa World Cup final half-time show on Sunday. The star-packed, Super Bowl-style extravaganza – a first for football’s showpiece event – also featured a tribute to football icon Pele, and a rendition of “Seven Nation Army” led by Gustavo Dudamel and featuring musicians from the US, Venezuela and Iran. Sesame Street and The Muppets...

Thousands of Israelis, including settlers and right-wing activists, marched towards the border with Gaza on Sunday, calling on the government to re-establish Israeli settlements in the war-shattered Palestinian territory, an Agence France-Presse journalist reported. The demonstrators gathered near the border before walking in large numbers towards the fence overlooking northern Gaza, where Israeli security forces deployed to prevent participants from advancing further. Agence France-Presse...

Football fans launched a unique protest against US President Donald Trump and Fifa chief Gianni Infantino at Sunday’s World Cup final. Red cards were handed out in New York and New Jersey to those on their way to the MetLife Stadium for the Spain v Argentina clash. Protest organisers hope fans will hold up the red cards during the handing over of the trophy to demonstrate their anger at Trump and Infantino. The duo are set to give the winning captain the World Cup trophy. The red cards featured...

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he said he is considering whether to arrest the Israeli leader during a coming United Nations summit. “Mr Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York,” Netanyahu’s office said, in a post on its official X account. “Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and...

The Chinese company that formerly owned British Steel demanded on Sunday compensation from the UK government for investment losses following the nationalisation of the manufacturer last week. The British government took operational control of the company last year after Jingye Group said it was considering closing the blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in northern England, the last in the United Kingdom to make “virgin steel” from raw materials. Jingye Group said in a WeChat statement that...

Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi faces a balancing act between asserting the independence favored by military reformers and accommodating political input on battlefield strategy.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who commanded crucial battles, oversaw an expansion of drone warfare against Russia, but many Ukrainians want even more.

Charles Ross spent 50 years building “Star Axis,” a naked-eye observatory in New Mexico. Now his masterwork is ready. How to share it with a changed world?

The economy of Laredo, Texas, has boomed under the president’s global tariffs. Now, his demands may threaten its success.

The administration canceled federal grants to organizations across the country, accusing them of encouraging premarital sex. New criteria say programs should stress abstinence.

Republicans managed to push through legislation to fund the government through Dec. 4. But with Democrats opposed, the stage is set for a broader battle.

Since Mr. Kirk was gunned down at Utah Valley University, the school and its students have struggled to find a way forward.

In central Mexico, a lettuce-growing region has been potentially linked to an outbreak in the U.S. that has sickened thousands.

Federal health officials have confirmed another 2,500 cases of the parasitic infection.

Republicans nominated a former N.F.L. kicker in a top House battleground, a Trump loyalist for governor and an election denier for the state’s top election post.

The fledgling firm, run by the president’s oldest son and his partner Omeed Malik, has made investments in A.I. and defense technology that have tripled in value in just months.

Sanae Takaichi has said she gets just “zero to three hours” of sleep a night, prompting a debate in the country over work-life balance.

Trump’s attempt to drum up a third red scare is certain to fail.

“Fighting again with Canada?” Desi Lydic said about the president imposing new tariffs on the country. “I thought we were going to work this ‘oot.’”

As threats from Moscow rise and support from Washington dwindles, the German military is reinventing how it researches, funds and wields 21st-century arms.