Minimalist News

Chart Of The Day: Democrats' Patriotism Falls Off A Cliff. Here's One Reason Why American pride remains high in absolute terms, but the trend is clear: the U.S. has shifted from being one of the world's most nationally proud countries to one that now resembles a typical Western nation. There are multiple forces behind this decline, but the largest political signal comes from the transformation of the Democratic Party. What was once a center-left party has increasingly embraced socialism and Marxism , frequently expressing anti-American rhetoric while seeking to undermine capitalism and national identity with migrants who don't want to

DRAMageddon Deepens As Samsung Prepares 20% Memory Price Hike There is no immediate price relief coming for cutting-edge memory chips, even as South Korea moves to double memory capacity. New fabs and expanded lines take time to build and then ramp production, meaning the supply response will lag demand. For now, DRAM inventories remain tight through year-end as data center buildouts accelerate, keeping producers like Samsung in control of the market, with more price hikes likely ahead. The memory-chip squeeze is not easing anytime soon. That is the clear takeaway from a new report by the Shanghai-based Chinese financial media

FBI Mole Wore Wire Inside Newsom's Inner Circle: Lawyer A mole working for the Biden FBI was secretly recording Gavin Newsom's inner circle before the agency expanded its corruption probe into the California governor and his wife, according to a bombshell report by the NY Post . Gov. Gavin Newsom, Alexis Podesta Democrat insider Alexis Podesta , a 45-year-old Sacramento consultant and Newsom appointee - no known relation to John Podesta - secretly taped conversations for the FBI as early as June 2024, while Joe Biden was still in the White House, according to McGregor Scott, the former US attorney

New York City Appropriates $7 Million For 'Trans Equity', Drag Queen Story Hours Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, A massive $126 billion spending plan approved by the New York City Council earlier this week includes nearly $7 million for so-called ‘trans equity’ programs and drag queen story hours. The New York Post reports that the budget was approved by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and directs the taxpayer money to programs and services “to help empower the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community.” NYC budget funnels $7M to transgender programs, drag story hours For the record, Drag Queen Story Hour

Ships Abruptly U-Turn Near Hormuz As Some Shift To Iran-Approved Routes The reopening of the Hormuz chokepoint has proceeded relatively smoothly for weeks, but an overnight development shows that the process remains fragile. At least eight ships attempting to exit the Persian Gulf abruptly reversed course near the critical waterway. Bloomberg cites ship-tracking data showing that the vessels, including oil tankers, product carriers, bulk carriers, and vehicle carriers, were moving toward the strait along the Omani coast before abruptly turning back. Several ships later resumed their transits through the strait by shifting northward onto a route closer to the Iranian

10 Charts Show How America Has Changed In 250 Years Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times, The United States has transformed from a collection of 13 eastern colonies into a transcontinental nation spanning 50 states, one district, and five major territories—a geographic expansion forged through land purchases and war treaties. America’s two-and-a-half-century evolution includes not only geographic growth, but also transformations in population, family structures, wages, the housing market, and health. Through data and graphics, here is a look at how the country has changed over 250 years. Changing Face of America In 1790, 95 percent of Americans

Heat Dome Threatens America's 250th Birthday As Power Grid Crisis Continues A massive heat dome continues to threaten the eastern half of the US, with the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast at the epicenter of the sweltering conditions. The summer heat is already disrupting July 4 celebrations and World Cup matches, while pushing the nation's largest power grid toward crisis mode later this afternoon for the third consecutive day. The annual Independence Day Parade in Washington, DC, set for later today was canceled "due to extreme heat," organizers said in an overnight memo. Cooling demand will surge again later today, just as

Russia Planning Provocation Against Poland To Test NATO Resolve, US Reportedly Warned The Telegraph along with various Eastern European media outlets, including Polish national sources, are reporting that United States passed Warsaw a warning based on intelligence that Moscow is considering an armed provocation against Poland to "test NATO's resolve" . Provocation scenarios are said to potentially include drone attacks on critical infrastructure such as power plants, or else testing airspace by simulating a large-scale air attack to try and force Poland to prematurely activate its air defenses. An official within President Karol Nawrocki's administration said the US " systematically

ISIS Terrorist Reaches Britain Via Small Boat After TikTok Assured Him UK 'Accepts Everyone' Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , A convicted ISIS terrorist who attended beheadings and public floggings in Iraq has been jailed for two years after arriving in Britain on a small boat. He told officials he came because he heard on TikTok that the UK "accepts everyone" and respects human rights. Mohammed Yaseen, 35, had lived a desolate existence in Iraq before aligning with ISIS. He watched ceremonies including stonings and was found with a Kalashnikov rifle. He later travelled to Germany in 2014,

German Clampdown On Sick Leave: No More Phoning It In, Doc Note Needed On Day 1 In a stark departure from its reputation for employee-coddling, the German government is attacking the mass abuse of sick leave with strict new policies that would require a doctor's note obtained on the very first day an employee is sick , with no ability to simply take a sick day with a mere phone call. The reform package also targets retirement ages, tax rates, regulations, welfare benefits and the ease of hiring and firing . It's expected to pass parliament by year's end. “The

The American System Rejects Europe's Economic Suicide Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker , National self-sufficiency beats globalism’s mass dependency. What makes a nation wealthy? It’s not just arable lands surrounded by other lands filled with water, timber, coal, gas, oil, metals, and minerals. It’s the farmer who knows best how to cultivate those lands in order to maximize food production. It’s the woodsman, miner, fisherman, and oilman who can extract nature’s bounty and provide the raw materials for every kind of manufacturer. Producing things requires knowledge and skill. Competition between producers creates an incentive to innovate. This motor

Would The Founders Still Recognize Their Republic? Authored by Andrew P. Napolitano Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants one mile away? — Rev. Mather Byles (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum, along with the witty version of it put to a Boston crowd in 1775 by the little-known colonial-era preacher with the famous uncle — Cotton Mather — addresses the age-old question of whether liberty can long survive in a democracy. Byles was a loyalist

First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax "Must Not Stop At Billionaires" Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) - fresh off endorsing California's November ballot measure to seize 5% of billionaire wealth - published a Substack essay Wednesday titled, no really, " Why I Support a Billionaire Wealth Tax ." He makes it roughly a dozen paragraphs before explaining that it isn't one. " The tax should not stop at billionaires, it must reach centimillionaires, " Khanna writes, before spelling out exactly what that means: every fortune of $50 million and up, hit with a 2% federal levy on

Alibaba Bans Employees From Using Anthropic's Coding Tool Over Distillation Scandal While in the US, the government's periodic bans of the latest model from Anthropic (which has made AI doomerism - in hopes of getting the government to regulate everyone else expect Anthropic, yet repeatedly achieving just the opposite - into an art form) has been all the rage in recent months, in China it is the other way around, with China's tech giant Alibaba banning employees from using Anthropic's Claude ‌Code at work after the tool drew scrutiny for features that can help identify China-linked users, Reuters reported. The

US At 250: Why America Has Been So Successful And Can It Continue To mark the 250 year anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Deutsche Bank has published a report looking at how the US emerged as a global superpower, and why it’s likely to remain one despite new challenges. First, DB considers how the US went from being a comparatively small country to the world's pre-eminent global power. These reasons range from the US' natural advantages, like favorable geography, to factors like its institutional stability and risk-tolerant capital markets. DB then considers the challenges that threaten US outperformance

Mamdani Delivers Anti-America Speech For The Nation's 250th Birthday New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sat at a desk to commemorate America's semiquincentennial, and the socialist wasted little time turning the occasion into an anti-America lecture. He told his audience they each hold "the power to determine what America means," then spent the rest of the speech explaining what it means to him, and it was mostly bad. " The powerful have always known their answer ," Mamdani said. " America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all

Tucker Carlson Unveils Major Political Plan Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA , Popular podcast host Tucker Carlson has long dismissed questions about whether he would ever seek public office. But this week, he hinted at a major political move, though don’t expect to see his name on the ballot. Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview published Wednesday , Carlson said he plans to “help build a third party,” just months after publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over the U.S.’s involvement in the Israel-Iran war. “I’m going to help build a third party. There should

Two Thirds Of Americans Still Think It's A Bad Time To Buy A House Americans looking to buy a house are currently facing conditions that make it hard for anyone but the very wealthy to afford buying a home. Elevated home prices combined with mortgage rates that have rebounded from historic mid-pandemic lows to levels last seen in the early 2000s are causing major headaches for would-be home buyers. To make things worse, many Americans had to dip into their savings during the past few years of high inflation, making it very hard to save for a sizeable down payment.

America Turns 250. At 125, It Looked Like The End... Authored by James Hickman via SchiffSovereign.com, On the afternoon of September 6, 1901, President William McKinley stood in a receiving line at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, shaking hands with a crowd of well-wishers. One of the people in the crowd was a young man named Leon Czolgosz… who was patiently waiting with a revolver wrapped in a handkerchief. When he reached the front, he fired twice into the president’s abdomen. McKinley died eight days later, and, Czolgosz, an unemployed factory worker, went to the electric chair without

China-Linked Socialist NGO Derailed $23.6 Billion In Data Center Buildouts: Report Our note on Thursday titled " World's Largest Data Center Project On Verge Of Collapse After Blackstone Unexpectedly Pulls Out " detailed Blackstone dialing back its presence from Northern Virginia's data-center alley, raising questions about whether the AI infrastructure buildout, colliding with local resistance movements, has begun to hit hard limits. Just days after agreeing to sell stakes in three Virginia data centers to Digital Realty Trust for $3.5 billion, Blackstone's QTS Realty Trust is reportedly abandoning plans for its portion of the massive Prince William Digital Gateway project.

Guardian reports after the disaster told of 5,000 deaths, much of the capital being razed, and doubts about Mexico hosting the finals Mexico last hosted the World Cup in 1986 , but the competition was almost cancelled several months before the start when an earthquake struck the capital, Mexico City, leaving at least 5,000 people dead, 30,000 homeless and much of the city flattened, in one of the worst earthquakes to hit the country. To this day, the death toll remains disputed, with some estimates putting it as high as 40,000 . Continue reading...

Port expansion and protections for whales part of BC and Alberta plan to expand country’s presence overseas The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will move forward on a major new oil pipeline after the pair announced a plan to ease concerns of British Columbia and First Nations on the Pacific coast. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, shuttled between British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce more than C$150bn in new investments in both provinces, part of a broader project of reducing trade with the United States and expanding his country’s presence in overseas markets. Continue reading...

Thousands of volunteers are joined by overseas teams in the hope of finding more survivors in the rubble, reports Tom Phillips in Caraballeda. Photography and video by Manu Quintero When twin earthquakes tore through Venezuela’s northern coast last week, Israel Rivas was at home hundreds of miles away in the industrial city of San Félix. As the scale of the catastrophe became clear, the 24-year-old knew he had to react. A mechanic and budding photographer, Rivas gathered the money he had been saving to buy a new camera lens and jumped on a bus to make the 12-hour journey to

Security guard Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43, initially told rescuers not to tell his wife in case he did not survive A 43-year-old security guard who survived last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela thanks to a pocket of air in his workstation cabin has been pulled from the collapsed basement of a shopping centre amid huge cheers from international rescue teams. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores had been trapped for eight days under the rubble of the Galerías Playa Grande in the hard-hit coastal port city of La Guaira since the back-to-back quakes struck. Continue reading...

Eleven-year-old developed symptoms 19 days after encounter in Ontario in ‘exceedingly rare’ case Doctors in Canada say a child who awoke to find a bat resting on his nose and mouth while visiting an Ontario cottage later died of rabies, in an “exceedingly rare case” that highlights the need for better public awareness. In a report published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, infectious disease physicians confirmed that the 11-year-old boy died from rabies, a fatality they said probably could have been prevented with greater awareness of how the virus is transmitted. Continue reading...

Officers found body of 34-year-old man in luxury rental home in Pattaya area, local media says A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested in Thailand after allegedly fatally stabbing her boyfriend, according to local media reports. The Bangkok Post reported that on Thursday morning local time, officers found the body of a 34-year-old man, who operated a cannabis farm, in a luxury rental home in the Pattaya area, a beachside region two hours from Bangkok known for its large expat population and nightlife. Continue reading...

Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing Chinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems. The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June. Continue reading...

Charges yet to be filed over incident in Mukdahan involving 11-year-old, as police seek to establish circumstances An 11-year-old boy has driven his parents’ truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand, killing at least nine monks. CCTV footage shared by a local rescue group showed the moment the monks, wearing orange robes, were run over as they walked in procession along a road. The timestamp on the footage was shortly before 11am local time on Thursday. Continue reading...

Rebels shoot pilot and set his civilian ⁠plane on fire amid long-running low-level battle for independence in region Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province. Continue

Unmarried man and woman whipped 21 times each because they had violated province’s version of Islamic law A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province have been publicly caned after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. The court ordered the couple, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing without being married. At least 100 people witnessed the caning, carried out by a group of people wearing robes and hoods on a stage in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh.

Exclusive: Most of the island’s corals are likely to be species that have not been formally described by science, researcher says Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Scientists fear unique corals that fringe Australia’s remote Norfolk Island could disappear because of a triple threat of disease, El Niño and a federal government plan to dredge a neighbouring shipping channel. A failure to manage sediment and pollution washing into bays from cattle farming, cleared land along with wastewater has been blamed for widespread disease and outbreaks of algae over the corals. Continue reading...

Exclusive: With the technology fast becoming popular in GP surgeries, regulators are monitoring its implementation and potential pitfalls Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The federal health department has raised concerns about the use of AI scribes by doctors as the health regulator considers the need for safeguards around the technology. AI scribe tools record, transcribe and summarise conversations between doctors and patients for medical notes, and have boomed in popularity in the past 18 months. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology says city’s mean temperature reached 16.1C, surpassing the previous record of 15.7C set in 1991 Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Sydney has officially experienced its hottest June since records began, after a winter month of spring-like warmth. While early weather data suggested the month was merely among the warmest, the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed on Friday that June 2026 broke the all-time mean temperature record at Observatory Hill, where tracking first began in 1859. Continue reading...

The New South Wales premier warns of rising threat of Pauline Hanson’s party as he addresses party conference Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has admitted the Labor party needs to “climb Everest” to stay in power amid the rising threat posed by One Nation ahead of next year’s state election. But while Minns received a standing ovation as he circled Sydney’s town hall before addressing the NSW Labor conference on Saturday, he did not avoid the protests over conflict in Gaza which have marked party conferences

Darweish Mohamed was found critically wounded outside Craigieburn community hospital on Wednesday evening Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A third teenager has been charged over the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old boy found outside a Melbourne hospital. A 14-year-old from Victoria’s Hume area was arrested on Friday evening and was charged with murder, police said.He has been scheduled to appear before a children’s court. Continue reading...

St Petersburg governor reports no victims after ‘large-scale’ overnight attack that also hit Baltic port of Vysotsk Ukraine launched a big overnight drone attack on St Petersburg and the surrounding area, hitting the city’s oil terminal and port infrastructure in the wider region. The St Petersburg governor, Alexander Beglov, said the city had been subjected to a “large-scale” drone attack that had hit its oil terminal. He said there were no casualties and the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with. Continue reading...

Thousands of police deployed to Erfurt in central Germany as party holds conference on key Nazi date Riot police have clashed with opponents of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party on the streets of Erfurt in Germany, where thousands met to block roads and prevent AfD delegates from attending the party’s biennial national conference to elect its leadership. Police reported 20,000 protesters were demonstrating in the eastern city, where Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are expected to be re-elected as the party’s co-leaders in the run-up to crucial regional elections in which AfD could win power at state-level for

Pope Leo urges Americans to live up to ideals of Declaration of Independence in first key address to US Pope Leo has used his first key address to his home country to praise the US history of ⁠welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠Declaration of Independence. In his latest implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, the first US leader of the Roman Catholic church said the word “America” had become ‌a “byword for freedom” across the world because of the way the country welcomed migrants. Continue reading...

‘Home fee’ qualification ends in 2028, leaving those hoping to study in UK not now eligible for British loans British teenagers living in the EU could be priced out of UK universities in two years’ time as a Brexit rule change means they face the double whammy of paying costlier international fees, while losing access to student finance. British passport holders living in the EU still qualify for “home fee” status at UK universities. But this will no longer be the case when the grace period ends in 2028, meaning the first wave to be affected are starting their A-levels,

Politicians brace for constitutional turmoil if Nigel Farage’s party end up in government – or even as a strong opposition The rise of Nigel Farage has prompted political leaders across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to game the unthinkable: the breakup of the United Kingdom. Unionists who wish to save the union and nationalists who wish to end it are bracing for constitutional turmoil if Reform UK emerges triumphant – with Farage as prime minister or official leader of the opposition – after the next election. Continue reading...

Up to 30 million people expected to attend delayed events for Ali Khamenei, killed at start of war with US and Israel Huge crowds have gathered at the funeral of the former Iranian supreme leader after the gates of the sprawling Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran let in thousands of mourners who had been waiting through the night to enter the grounds. Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Ali Khamenei – whose ⁠37-year reign was brought ⁠to an ​end in February by the first airstrike of the war launched by the US and Israel. By 5.30am, the Tehran

Judge says evidence indicates attack on Pouria Zeraati outside home was carried out on behalf of Tehran regime Two Romanians who took part in a “targeted” knife attack on a television journalist in London “on behalf of the Iranian state” have been jailed. Pouria Zeraati, who worked for the Persian-language channel Iran International, which is critical of the Tehran regime, was left bleeding in the street after being stabbed three times outside his home in Wimbledon. Continue reading...

Country’s leadership vows to never surrender as memorial on grand scale aims to relay message of resistance to world In the small hours of Friday the police roadblocks, stalls, posters and army vans were starting to appear across Tehran, as millions of Iranians prepared to attend the long-delayed six-day funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 turbulent years. Khamenei was killed aged 86 in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack on the country in February, and the final farewell ceremony is intended to be an epic display of personal mourning, national power, resilience and social cohesion.

US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz Iran is jealously competing with Oman as decision-maker over strait of Hormuz Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks. In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as

Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience. For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control. Continue reading...

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Continue reading...

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed as ‘gamechanger’ on air pollution The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...

More than 35,000 people from about 600 groups made their way from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall via Piccadilly Tens of thousands of people marched through central London for the annual LGBT+ Pride parade. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, joined the crowd as they proceeded through the capital on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...

Guardian analysis of X feed shows how keen world’s richest person was to air his views and ‘interfere’ in British politics Elon Musk posted about race and immigration in the UK on his social media network X twice as often as he did about SpaceX, which he also owns, in the run-up to the aerospace and AI company’s initial public offering. A Guardian analysis of Musk’s posts, replies and reposts between 31 May and 12 June has shown the extent to which the social media activity of the world’s richest person, who lives primarily in the US, has focused on

Voters disillusioned with Starmer’s Labour were tempted by the Greens – but Polanski’s party fears the affable, left-leaning Burnham could win them back The shift was notable. A week after Keir Starmer said he would resign, YouGov polling showed Labour up two points and the Greens down by the same amount. Might an Andy Burnham premiership mean a rethink for Zack Polanski’s party? The short answer is it is too early to know, particularly in an era of unprecedented political volatility and the seesawing poll numbers that come with it. This year alone, a five-point Labour lead over the Greens

Heat health alerts in place in most regions of England from Sunday to Saturday with mercury also rising in Wales Another heatwave is on the way across parts of the UK with peak temperatures of 34C forecast. Temperatures in the south of England could reach 28C on Saturday, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...

Deputy Labour leader says No 10 must become more meritocratic as party’s female MPs press Burnham on gender balance Andy Burnham will change a “boys club” culture of factional briefings at No 10 which silenced critics, according to the deputy leader of the Labour party. Lucy Powell said she had experienced “unpleasant” briefings in Downing Street, which left people afraid to speak out or challenge Downing Street’s position. Continue reading...

Hundreds of masked members of the white supremacist organization marched and chanted in the US capital Hundreds of masked men carrying banners, including the Confederate flag, marched through Washington DC on the Fourth of July, the 250th anniversary of the US’s inception. The group appeared to be led by Thomas Rousseau, founder of the neo-fascist, white supremacist organization Patriot Front. Members of the group wore white masks and gathered in front of DC’s Union Station. They later marched towards Capitol Hill, WTOP reported . Continue reading...

Mt Olive Pickle Company says it was unaware image of flag was included in exhibit, and cites value of ‘human dignity’ A leading vendor of the US delicacy that is the pickle has withdrawn from the Great American State Fair in Washington DC after North Carolina’s booth displayed a video containing a Confederate flag. The Mt Olive Pickle Company, which is located in eastern North Carolina and bills itself as the “#1 bestselling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the US”, told local news station WNCT it had been unaware that an image of the flag would be included

Officials rescued seven other people after a sudden storm led to a boat sinking on Geneva Lake Three children died after a boat capsized on Wisconsin ’s Geneva Lake during inclement weather on the eve of the US’s semiquincentennial celebrations, and seven other people had to be rescued by emergency responders, according to officials. A recreational motor boat with 10 passengers, including four children, sank on Friday afternoon as the boat “attempted to navigate to safety as weather conditions deteriorated” amid an intense, sudden storm, the city of Lake Geneva police department said in a statement. Continue reading...

Pardons issued to nine people charged with violating Clean Air Act as extreme heat smothers much of US Donald Trump on Friday issued pardons to 11 men – two convicted fraudsters and nine charged with having violated the federal Clean Air Act by disabling or otherwise modifying trucks’ emissions controls. Those executive pardons – coming amid US semiquincentennial celebrations blanketed in extreme heat exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions – were among a broader wave of acts of clemency from Trump during his second presidency, chiefly for those he considers to be aligned with him. Continue reading...

National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning as high temperatures have paralyzed the east coast Organizers of Saturday’s Independence Day parade in Washington DC abruptly canceled the event late on the eve of the event, with sweltering temperatures in the nation’s capital and on the east coast wreaking havoc on celebrations of America’s semiquincentennial . The event, hosted by the National Park Service (NPS), was scheduled to begin at 10.30am on Saturday. But organizers said they canceled the procession due to an extreme heart warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS). Continue reading...

Pope Leo on Saturday visited Italy’s Lampedusa island, a major port of call for migrants risking the perilous crossing from Africa, in a stark message to US and EU leaders. The Catholic Church’s first US pope, who has clashed with the administration of President Donald Trump over its treatment of migrants, is marking July 4, the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence, on a migration frontline. Leo’s visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union’s approval of new migrant...

Almost anywhere you look these days, you can find claims from political, academic and other various sources that China’s supposed overproduction and exports of manufactured goods pose unfair advantages. These sources may also claim such unfair advantages justify protectionist countermeasures. But it is difficult to counter one’s own folly. For decades, the US, much of Europe and even Japan, long proud of its manufacturing skills, have prided themselves on becoming “post-industrial” and...

Thousands protested against Germany’s far-right AfD and blocked roads to its annual conference in the eastern city of Erfurt on Saturday, where the party re-elected the two leaders who have overseen its rise as a national force. Protesters from unions, civil society groups and left-wing parties gathered as large numbers of police, including reinforcements from across Germany, were deployed ahead of the AfD’s two-day conference. AfD stands for ‌Alternative for Germany. Watched by police in riot...

The Gaza war was the spark that touched off years of Middle East conflict culminating in the US-Israeli war with Iran, but as Washington and Tehran wrangle over terms for peace, the devastated territory’s fate seems largely out of mind. “Ever since the United States went to war with Iran, the whole world has forgotten Gaza and its tragedy. We no longer have anyone standing by us,” Palestinian Ahmed Jamali, 53, told Agence France-Presse from the displacement camp in Gaza where he lives. “We are...

Vast crowds of Iranians loyal to the Islamic republic massed in Tehran on Saturday to begin almost a week of funeral ceremonies for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which authorities hope will send a message of defiance to the West after the war with the United States and Israel. Clad in black and waving blood-red flags seen as a call for vengeance and justice under Shia Islam, mourners thronged the Grand Mosalla religious complex in the Iranian capital. Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989...

How many crises does it take to change the way the world trades? For Asia, the answer appears to be three. First Covid closed the factories that fed the logistics networks, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine choked off Black Sea grain exports and sent energy prices spiralling. Now, the US-Israel war on Iran may have hammered the final nail in the coffin of “just in time” supply chains that some economists say are no longer fit for purpose. “Taken together, they show that serious disruption is now...

America turns 250 on Saturday – a landmark birthday that coincides with a time of deep national division and a president determined to seize the festive centre stage. The independence anniversary also comes in the middle of a brutal heatwave that has placed some 160 million Americans under major or extreme heat warnings, playing havoc with planned parades and block parties in towns and cities across much of the country. But the searing temperatures have done little to deter President Donald...

A dangerous heatwave upended Fourth of July celebrations across swathes of the central and eastern United States on Friday, forcing officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere to cancel or postpone dozens of parades, concerts and fireworks displays. Among the events disrupted by the sweltering heat was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, a centrepiece of President Donald ‌Trump’s efforts to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. The fair, designed to showcase all 50...

Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. The latest discovery has a “shorter” snout, a “darker coloration pattern” and a “much longer spine on its dorsal fin”, according to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica. The discovery marked the only such species “known for the Central American coast”, Sibaja said, adding genetic analysis indicated the new species had “no reproductive...

An unmistakable pattern has emerged in the US’ strategy to contain China. Washington has sought to deny China access to frontier technologies and key commodities, and to redirect related supply chains to revitalise American industries. In this context, US President Donald Trump’s intense interest in America taking over Denmark’s Greenland becomes clear. Deny the Chinese their favourite seafood, which many can’t live without, and revive the US food industry. You think I am pulling your leg. This...

A massive Russian ⁠glide bomb strike on the centre of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least four people, including a child, on Friday and injured 27, Regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov said. Other areas in Sumy region and in southeastern Ukraine, closer to ‌the front lines, also came under Russian attack, killing a total of six people. “At the epicentre of the strike – a high-rise apartment building, a shop and a street,” Hryhorov wrote on Telegram of the strike in Sumy. “There were a...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at a ceremony packed with stars of sports and entertainment. The deep secrecy that surrounded the build-up to the nuptials lifted when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done. The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead having Swift’s younger brother Austin Swift serve as her man of honour...

China is such a giant player in the global economy that understanding how the US-China contest of the century for international primacy will evolve has become crucial. Some Westerners, especially those in the United States, feel so threatened that they have resorted to protectionism, with global fragmentation and perhaps even preparations for a third world war already in the cards. Kishore Mahbubani’s book Has China Won? highlighted deep misunderstandings and structural tensions between China...

The fallout from Venezuela’s powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodriguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires on Friday. A day after Rodriguez angrily defended the competence of her government’s relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disaster, her main rival, exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, issued her...

European Nato allies have mostly replaced the assets that the US has cut from its rescue plans in case of a war in Europe, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe John Stringer said in an interview. Stringer made the assurance ahead of the alliance’s summit in Ankara next week, at which allies will try to smooth over recent announcements by the US signalling that it is pivoting away from the continent. “European allies have definitely stepped up in terms of backfilling the adjustment in the US...

Nasa launched a robotic mission on Friday to try to prevent one of its ageing telescopes from burning up in the atmosphere, a complicated operation expected to last several months. The unprecedented US$30 million effort involves sending a robot to rescue the Swift space telescope that is currently falling towards Earth. If successful, the mission could pave the way for giving other satellites a second life. Initially scheduled for Tuesday, the robot’s launch was postponed due to weather and then...

Germany ⁠does not have to shy ⁠away from talking up its record on defence spending, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, when asked about US President Donald Trump calling Germany’s past efforts “ridiculous”. The issue of defence spending has loomed large as Nato leaders prepare to gather ‌next week in Ankara, where Europeans aim to set aside strife with Trump over Iran and Greenland and show they are stepping up to defend the continent. “Germany is doubling its defence budget within four...

Interpol on Friday named the suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia. It identified Anastasiia Berezovska, a 39-year-old woman from Ukraine, as the suspect in a Red Notice posted on its website seeking her arrest. Monaco authorities have not identified any of the three people wounded in Monday’s explosion at a residential building entrance but said they are a family and that they appear to have been specifically targeted. Media reports...

Experts agree that humans can only comfortably survive in the thermoneutral zone, a surprisingly narrow Goldilocks range between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius. This gives us a problem as climate change pushes up summer temperatures alarmingly, resulting in record heatwaves around the world. Already, about 12 per cent of the Earth’s land area is uninhabitable due to deadly climate conditions. This is set to rise to over 45 per cent by 2100, with at least 44 per cent of the world’s population likely...

Iranian leaders began paying their respects on Friday before the coffin of the country’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. A coterie of foreign dignitaries is also due to attend Saturday’s official ceremony, with Tehran’s chief negotiator calling for a massive turnout to...

Germany’s ruling coalition has pledged to take a tougher line on defending trade at the continental level, signalling a potential shift by a country long seen as the European Union’s main brake on stronger action against China. The pledge formed part of a 34-point package to revive Germany’s ailing economy that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition agreed to on Thursday. While the document did not mention China, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the government was adopting a...

Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday rejected allegations that her government reacted ⁠too slowly to destruction caused by two earthquakes which killed more than 2,000 people, after days of widespread criticism of the official response. Civilians of all stripes - including survivors, family members, volunteer paramedics and foreign rescue teams - have descended on disaster areas, especially the hardest-hit northern state of La Guaira, since the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude quakes...

Maria believed she was romancing a prince from Dubai, captivated by his flirtatious smile and declarations of affection he showered on her during live video calls. But the suitor was an AI deepfake, making her yet another victim of an online romance scam. The case illustrates how fraudsters posing as the real-life crown prince of Dubai ensnare victims by cultivating online relationships before swindling them out of money, with researchers tracing some of the scams to crime syndicates in...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese tech makes desalinating seawater cheaper than producing bottled water Desalination has always been an energy-hungry way of turning salt water into fresh water, making it largely the preserve of wealthy countries with abundant...

An “unforgettable” tribute to America, or a health hazard that will terrorise animals and pollute the environment? That is the question as Washington prepares to break the record for the world’s largest fireworks display on the United States’ 250th birthday on Saturday. The Trump administration’s “Freedom250” project has hired Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico to launch more than 850,000 fireworks shells across 10 sites around the Lincoln Memorial and Potomac River, starting at 10.30pm and lasting...

The latest child suicide figures from the Education Bureau make for grim reading. For three academic years in a row, suspected suicide cases among primary and secondary school students have remained stubbornly high – 32 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 31 in 2025. Despite a deluge of government resources, the three-tier emergency mechanism in secondary schools and public awareness campaigns, these numbers refuse to budge. We must ask ourselves a difficult question: why are we failing our children? Of...

The Nato summit beginning on Tuesday in Turkey is expected to be low-key as European members track their progress towards increased defence spending goals and Beijing watches intently from afar. Low-key, that is, with one major caveat. Will the get-along US President Donald Trump show up, or the raging Trump who slammed the alliance, questioned its purpose and threatened repeatedly to take his military and head home? Early indications suggested it would be the raging one. “The United States...

The first act of pop sensation Taylor Swift’s wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce kicked off Thursday, with a rehearsal dinner for 100 guests ahead of a star-studded extravaganza at the famed Madison Square Garden. The billionaire singer and three-time Super Bowl champion, both 36, have kept fans guessing, but media reports describe an over-the-top celebration befitting one of the world’s most famous couples. The A-list festivities kicked off Thursday evening with an exclusive dinner for 100...

A former Olympian was indicted on Thursday on a felony charge in what US President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems. David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington DC court. District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more...

Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a severe backlash, prompting Attorney General Richard Hermer – the government’s chief legal adviser –...

China told the European Union that it is open to exploring ways to cut its massive trade surplus with the bloc during talks in Brussels this week, according to multiple people briefed on the discussion. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signalled to EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic that China was willing to consider purchase agreements covering European goods. The discussions touched on lowering tariffs on EU-made goods, in a rare sign that China recognises that its billion-euro a day trade...

A bomb blast rocked a cafe in Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, killing nine people and wounding 20, authorities said, in the latest challenge for the country’s Islamist leaders as they seek stability after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key government building, sparking scenes of panic in the busy area. “The explosion that occurred in a...

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship which sparked international alarm, after the last person left quarantine. There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths. But while the outbreak is now over, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages, as they try to learn lessons from the episode that triggered a global health alert. “Today, the final contact of a...

Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. The official death toll has risen to nearly 2,600 and huge numbers of people are still missing, which meant the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed seven-storey...

The United States posted weaker-than-expected job growth in June as new data showed the labour market is facing headwinds ahead of the testing midterm election for President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000 and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said in a statement on Thursday. After months of seesawing growth and contraction, the US job market posted strong gains in the last three months, but...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘I will sell to someone else’: Brazil’s Lula hits back at US after China beef win Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”,...

China is trying to “infiltrate” the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement via Mexican automotive investments, a US manufacturing trade group said, as Washington indicated it would not renew the agreement that comes up for review this month. However, analysts cautioned that full decoupling from China’s automotive industry remains difficult, given North America’s continued dependence on Chinese-sourced motor vehicle components and Mexico’s legacy of export manufacturing plus quick access to the US...

Hundreds of people were besieging Lidl supermarkets in and around Paris on Thursday, with scuffles and shouting matches breaking out as residents scrambled to get their hands on bargain air-cooling units before the next heatwave hits the French capital. With few air conditioners on sale elsewhere for less than €1,200 (US$1,400), police were called to at least two stores as huge crowds descended on Lidl supermarkets trying to get their hands on basic models on sale for as low as €179. Mousa...

The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who “formally adhere” to the group would suffer the same fate. The Vatican decree comes a day after the traditionalist breakaway group consecrated four new bishops, defying a plea from Pope Leo not to do so. The decree called the ceremony “an act of schismatic nature”. For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of the pope is a direct act of...

It’s the 1000th day of war since a Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Other conflicts have emerged in the region, and fragile ceasefires show scars of persistent attacks. Both Israelis and Palestinians are weary of the strain. The fate of over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, largely displaced and living amid ruins, remains uncertain. Israeli forces controlled over half of the territory under the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, but Israel’s government has expanded...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s trip to Canada highlights deepening ties at a time when Ottawa is seeking to court middle powers and establish its presence in the Indo-Pacific. Marcos is in the Canadian capital for a four-day visit that started on Wednesday, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to strengthen cooperation on trade, labour, energy and tourism, and enhance defence and maritime ties. He is also slated to meet Canadian business leaders and...

Doctors said Wednesday they feared the aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a widening medical crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious diseases and a healthcare system already on the brink. Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded shelters or outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions following the June 24 earthquakes which officials say killed at least 2,295 and left more than 11,000 injured. Aid workers said...

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, wounding scores more and damaging around 130 buildings in one of the biggest attacks of the war. Multiple explosions shook buildings and reverberated across the capital throughout the night as thousands of residents rushed to bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far this year, and was the...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that indirect talks with Iran in Qatar were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of...

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese-American in California history with an annual namesake day. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco. An 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong. Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce...

A report from a cryptocurrency analytics firm details how those who bought the Trump memecoin have fared, with most retail investors having lost money while sophisticated traders did better.

In his second term, the president has increasingly mused about his predecessors, comparing himself with some and distancing from the failures of others.

The Russian leader denounced Ukraine’s “imaginary achievements” on the battlefield of late, calling its leaders “play actors.”

Yes, they got married. Yes, they held a huge event inside Madison Square Garden. No, the guests did not post much about it. (At least they haven’t yet.)

The scene outside Taylor Swift’s wedding in Manhattan had the drama and emotion of one of her albums.

The list includes Reese Witherspoon, the Haim sisters, and Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner, among many other celebrities, athletes and musicians.

No. 1 puts No. 45/47 to shame.

It wasn’t Thomas Jefferson who made “All men are created equal” actually mean something.

A year after a catastrophic flood killed 139 people in the Texas Hill Country, communities along the Guadalupe River are still rebuilding.