Minimalist News

Hundreds Of Thousands In Moscow Experience Rare 'Total Blackout' After Drone Wave Something very rare just happened in Moscow. Large swathes of Russian capital were plunged into darkness Wednesday after a swarm of inbound Ukrainian drones resulted in a fire at a key electrical substation. People reported widespread outages across the Moscow region, including a "total blackout" in areas southeast of the capital, leaving homes without electricity for over four hours. > ‼️A blackout in Moscow: up to 600,000 residents are without electricity, according to Russian media. pic.twitter.com/X9EXYk28Gr > > — WW3 Monitor (@WW3_Monitor) December 30, 2025 Power was cut to hundreds of thousands of residents

Americans Will Drop Everything (And Anything) To Celebrate New Year's Eve Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times, Millions worldwide will watch a crystal ball descend 139 feet down a flagpole in Manhattan’s Time Square as a throng of thousands counts down the last 10 seconds of 2025 and ushers in 2026 in a blizzard of confetti and a cacophony of kazoos, party horns, whistles, and whatever else imaginative noisemakers can stash and carry. The minute-long ball drop is among the planet’s most viewed annual live events. At least a billion will see the 12.5-foot diameter, 12,350-pound “Constellation Ball“ with 32,000 LEDs and

National Guard Patrols New Orleans Ahead Of New Year Amid Vehicle-Ramming Threats Weeks after National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent warned that thousands of known and suspected terrorists entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris regime years of a nation-killing open-border invasion, and days after a U.S. government threat assessment flagged elevated risks from lone wolves and small terror cells potentially targeting 'special events' in New York City and Chicago, the deployment of National Guard troops to New Orleans only suggests officials are responding to credible threats. > Chicago authorities warn NYE celebrations could attract foreign and domestic terrorists. > > New Orleans to

Citizen Journalists Uncover Defunct Shell Organization Linked To 40 Ohio Daycares Update (1520ET): Dozens of citizen journalists are combing through public filings and conducting on-the-ground investigations in corrupt Democratic-run cities, aiming to map out the scale of an alleged Somali-linked welfare fraud network. The on-the-ground footage these journalists have posted on X suggests that some daycare operations may be front companies. The latest revelation centers on a defunct nonprofit, the Somali Education & Resource Center, which Right Angle News Network and others claim operated more than 40 daycare centers in Columbus under its name and received millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each

Investors Scoop Up 40% Of Vacant Lots Sold After Los Angeles Fires: Report Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times, Almost a year after January’s devastating California wildfires, real estate investors have been buying up nearly 40 percent of the land sold in the areas impacted by the fires. A Dec. 30 report from Redfin stated that many of these now-empty lots once retained some of the nation’s most expensive homes, before they were reduced to rubble when the fire ripped through over 40,000 acres and destroyed more than 11,000 single-family homes in the Los Angeles suburbs. A Zillow analysis—also released on Dec.

Iran Protesters Try To Break Into Govt Building In 4th Consecutive Night Of Unrest Update(1440ET): Al Jazeera is reporting that groups of Iranian protesters have been observed trying to breaking into government buildings, a trend which could grow to various places: > Iranian protesters demonstrating over economic hardship and a plummeting currency attempted to break into a local government building, state media reported, as the unrest continued for a fourth day. > > State media reported on Wednesday an organised group of “rioters” attempted to get into the local governorate building in Fasa in the southern province of Fars. Footage broadcast on state

Swalwell Pledges To Arrest ICE Agents And Take Away Their Driver's Licenses Authored by Jonathan Turley, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Cal.) will not be outdone again. Recently, Swalwell was outvoted in Congress by a colleague who had died months earlier.  Now, he is ensuring that, when it comes to violating the Constitution, no one is even close. This week, Swalwell pledged that, if elected California governor, he will arrest ICE officers and take away their driver’s licences. On MS NOW’s “All In,” Swalwell was asked by host Jason Johnson: >  “What would you do if you are able to be elected as governor of California? … What would

Russia Presents Its Evidence Of Ukrainian Drone Attack On Putin's Residence "We're going to see some escalation now," Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt has said amid allegations Ukraine targeted Putin's residence. "The Russians have made up their minds and made declarations about who they believe tried to strike the Valdai mansion that's owned by President Putin, and they're going to change their negotiable posture." For starters, the Kremlin has already indeed made clear Moscow would toughen its stance in US-backed peace talks which seek to end nearly four-year-old war. The fear is also that Russia will use this as an 'excuse' to

Moore: Economists Got 2025 All Wrong Authored by Stephen Moore via DailyCaller.com, Well, Donald Trump has done it again! He stumped the chumps. The “chumps” in this case were the “blue chip” academic and financial economists whose consensus forecast this time last year was for high inflation and low economic growth. Wrong on both counts. As you’ve probably heard, the GDP growth for Q3 came in at a red hot 4.3% following 3.5% for the second quarter. Some 90% of the professional economists got it wrong — all underestimating the strength of the Trump economy. QED: these weren’t random errors. These were “hate Trump” errors. They

2025 Greatest Hits: The Most Popular Articles Of The Past Year And A Look Ahead One year ago, when looking at the 20 most popular stories of 2024, we said that "while 2024 had a seemingly endless variety of social, economic, political, geopolitical and of course, financial and market, drama, the unprecedented onslaught of 2022 and 2023 - which saw both the deadliest and most consequential global war since WWII and a historic inflationary onslaught - simply proved too great to beat.... although we are confident that's only because the newsflow was merely resting ahead of 2025 when, thanks to the most

The Trump Administration's Fight To Fund Scientists Authored by Paul D. Thacker via RealClearInvestigations, The panic and outrage were palpable last February when President Trump announced plans to trim reimbursement rates for government-funded scientific research. “This is going to decimate U.S. scientific biomedical research,” Northwestern University biologist Carole Labonne told Bloomberg. “The lights will go out, people will be let go, and these [medical] advances will not occur,” David Skorton, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, told PBS. “The goal,” University of Washington biologist Carl Bergstrom warned on BlueSky, “is to destroy U.S. universities.” The sky has not fallen on American research in the 10 months

DOJ's Inventory Of Unreleased Epstein Files Soars To 5.2 Million Pages Already in violation of a statutory deadline and accused of engaging in rampant, unlawful redactions, it's been revealed that the US Department of Justice has about 5.2 million pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that still need to be reviewed, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and inside sources cited by the New York Times.  The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was enacted in November, gave the DOJ a Dec. 19 deadline for releasing "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" relating to Epstein and

"This Is A Perfect Storm": Martin Armstrong Warns 'War Is Coming' Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong says everywhere you look there is big trouble bubbling out of control.   Armstrong sees the perfect storm closing in from all sides.  Let’s start with the war in Ukraine.  It looks like peace was possible until Russia claimed Ukraine attacked Putin’s residence.  Also, just today, a fresh headline reads “More than 600,000 Russians plunged into darkness as Ukrainian drones strike Moscow.”  Armstrong says, > “I don’t see this turning into a real sustainable peace.  > > What they are trying to do is get a ceasefire so

Crew Paints Russian Flag On Iran-Linked Tanker To Avoid US Seizure The weird saga of the US-sought third tanker off Venezuela which was nearly boarded by US forces before fleeing into the Atlantic continues, after US officials have newly revealed more information. US attempts to intercept the oil tanker Bella 1 in the Atlantic have been complicated after the ship’s crew painted a Russian flag on its hull. It has avoided and evaded the US Coast Guard for more than ten days after refusing to comply with an interception near Venezuela on December 21. Reports based on US officials describe that the crew got creative

High Electricity Prices Are A Choice Blue States Make Every Day Authored by Isaac Orr & Tom Pyle via RealClearEnergy, Americans are anxious about their utility bills – and with good reason. Three quarters of U.S. residents are concerned about their electricity and gas bills rising this year, and 80% feel powerless over how much they are charged for utilities. For nearly two-thirds of U.S. billpayers, simply keeping the lights on has become a growing source of financial stress. (don't say her name three times in front of a mirror) Those concerns are grounded in reality. U.S. electricity prices rose 27% during the Biden

"Regulatory Theater": Meta Created 'Playbook' To Obscure Scam Ads From Regulators, Avoid Forced Verification Last month Reuters revealed that roughly 10% of Meta's annual revenue, or $16 billion, comes from advertising scams and banned goods - as the company only bans advertisers when its systems detect a 95% probability of fraud, while charging higher ad fees to suspicious buyers - a system critics describe as “pay to play.” Data from fraud-reporting firm SafelyHQ shows Facebook is cited in 85% of scam reports that identify a platform, with more than 50,000 verified complaints collected so far, which CEO Patrick Quade suggests an implied victim count in the

Newsom's Massive Fraud Scandal No One Is Talking About Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com, Everybody's buzzing about that Minnesota Medicaid mess with Gov. Tim Walz. Some are even calling it the largest fraud scandal ever. If only. Blue-state fraud is undoubtedly a problem, and Walz should be held accountable if he did indeed look the other way. But what happened in the land of 10,000 lakes is tiny compared to the fraud in California under Gavin Newsom. Heck, it makes Minnesota look like pocket change. A fresh 92-page bombshell from the California State Auditor lays it all out. > “This latest report was issued by

Oil Heads For Worst Annual Loss Since COVID As US Crude Production Hits Record High Oil futures are gaining in early U.S. trade, but on track to end the year substantially lower. As Dow Jones reports, the unwinding of OPEC+ output cuts, along with higher non-OPEC production, fueled oversupply concerns in 2025, while U.S. sanctions and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Russia-Ukraine and more recently Venezuela led to frequent price spikes. > "The crude supply surplus will acquire greater transparency than was the case through most of the fall period as floating storage gradually finds its way into onshore facilities," Ritterbusch and

Somali Americans Face Audits For Potential Immigration Fraud Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration is auditing immigration cases involving U.S. citizens of Somali origin to uncover potential fraud that might be grounds for revoking their citizenship, known as denaturalization. > “Under U.S. law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement reported by Fox News then shared by the White House on social media. Such denaturalization actions are rare, and the process often lasts years. Data from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center show an average

Trump Media Shares Pop After Announcing Digital Token Distribution With Crypto.com Trump Media shares are volatile this morning, popping before paring gains, after the company announced plans to distribute a new digital token to its shareholders through a partnership with Crypto.com, expanding the company’s push into blockchain-based shareholder engagement. Under the proposal, each ultimate beneficial owner of DJT stock is expected to become eligible to receive one digital token for every whole share owned, with the distribution anticipated to begin in the near future. Trump Media indicated that token holders may receive rewards periodically throughout the year, including potential benefits or discounts connected to

Report of a drone attack on a port facility signals new phase in US military campaign against Nicolás Maduro * US wargames played out scenarios for Maduro’s fall. None of them ended well for Venezuela Nearly a week after Donald Trump first announced what he said was the first US ground strike in a four-month-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela, details remain very thin on the ground. CNN and the New York Times reported late on Monday that they had confirmed the CIA had used a drone to target a “port facility” allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua street gang. No

Former Brazilian president underwent a phrenic nerve block while temporarily released from prison for surgery Jair Bolsonaro underwent a second “phrenic nerve block procedure” on Monday to treat persistent hiccups. The treatment went well and the former Brazilian president’s condition is stable, according to his medical team. Continue reading...

Train accident in Oaxaca is likely to raise criticisms about public works projects from the previous administration At least 13 people were killed when a train derailed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in an accident which is likely to revive opposition criticisms of the speed and dealings with which the country’s government builds its flagship public works projects. The incident took place on the Interoceanic Train, which was built to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, creating an alternative rail cargo route to the Panama canal intended to drive development in the

Trump alleged that US forces hit ‘very hard’ in what would mark his team’s first land strike on Venezuela if confirmed Donald Trump has claimed that US forces struck a “big facility” in Venezuela last week – but the president did not specify what it was, or where, and the White House has not commented further. “We just knocked out – I don’t know if you read or you saw – they have a big plant, or a big facility, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard,” Trump told Republican donor

Government said the move was due to its ‘unrestricted respect for human rights’ in the face of US aggression Venezuela has said it has carried out its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have freed 99 people detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by the dictator Nicolás Maduro, as it comes under increasing military pressure from the US. Civil society organisations have treated the news with caution and stressed that the releases were insufficient, noting that at least 900 political prisoners remain in the country. Continue reading...

Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drills China’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing. Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” Continue reading...

Carmakers such as MG, BYD and Chery are set to pass 200,000 mark in sales, analysis suggests, double 2024’s total Chinese brands are on course to account for one in every 10 new cars sold in Britain during 2025, a marked increase on last year as sales increase across Europe. Manufacturers led by MG, BYD, and Chery are on track to break the 200,000 mark in UK new car sales in 2025, meaning they are very likely to account for 10% of the market, according to Matthias Schmidt, an analyst tracking electric cars across Europe. Continue reading...

PM Sanae Takaichi joins petition asking for better facilities for women to match improved representation Nearly 60 female lawmakers in Japan, including the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, have submitted a petition calling for more toilets in the parliament building for women to match their improved representation. Japanese politics remains hugely male-dominated, although the number of women in the parliament rose at the last election – and Takaichi became the first female prime minister in October. This is reflected by there being only one lavatory containing two cubicles for the lower house’s 73 women to use near the Diet’s main plenary session hall

Foreign affairs department statement says Australia opposes any actions that ‘increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia says it is deeply concerned about Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, and has raised the issue with Chinese officials. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said the large-scale simulations risked destabilising the region and could result in an accident or escalation. Continue reading...

Community leaders raise alarm over study links and Polynesian ties, with Tonga to face restrictions from January as US says too many overstay The small Pacific nation of Tonga is one of more than a dozen countries to be hit with visa and entry restrictions on 1 January as the Trump administration tightens its crackdown on immigration. In December, the US said it would further restrict and limit the entry of foreign nationals to protect the country from “national security and public safety threats”. Continue reading...

Police said 25-year-old woman hit by a wave near a tidal rock pool at Maroubra, and another swimmer missing at Coogee * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A woman has been found dead after being swept out into the ocean from a Sydney beach in the early hours of New Year’s Day, as authorities issue a warning about dangerous surf conditions on the NSW coast. Later in the morning another swimmer went missing in the water at Coogee. Continue reading...

Terror attack victims remembered with menorah projected on to Harbour Bridge before dazzling display * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia paused to show solidarity with the Jewish community as New Year’s Eve festivities rolled across the nation. Weeks on from the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, hundreds of thousands of people around Sydney Harbour observed a minute’s silence and shone a collective, defiant light after the recent atrocity. Continue reading...

Levy on beef exceeding quotas to begin immediately as Beijing seeks to protect domestic industry * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian beef producers said they were “extremely disappointed” after China announced a 55% tariff on imports that exceed quota levels in a move to protect a domestic cattle industry slowly emerging from oversupply. China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday the total import quota for 2026 for Australia and other countries such as Brazil and the US covered under its new “safeguard measures” is 2.7m metric tons, roughly in line with the record 2.87m tons it

Draft bill to be submitted for legal checks as France aims to follow Australia’s world-first ban on platforms including Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube France intends to follow Australia and ban social media platforms for children from the start of the 2026 academic year. A draft bill preventing under-15s from using social media will be submitted for legal checks and is expected to be debated in parliament early in the new year. Continue reading...

* The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day * Martyn played total of 67 Tests between 1992 and 2006 The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis. The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Border guards say they found ship with anchor lowered into sea after detection of fault in Helsinki-Tallinn telecoms link Finnish authorities have boarded and seized a cargo vessel sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging two underwater telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, where a series of similar incidents have occurred in recent years. The vessel, the Fitburg, was on its way from St Petersburg to Haifa in Israel. Finnish coastguard officers boarded the ship at 11am, about six hours after disruption to the cables was first reported. Fourteen crew members, including several Russians, were taken into custody. Continue reading...

Passengers told to expect knock-on impacts after power supply problem and broken-down train halted services on Tuesday Rail traffic through the Channel tunnel slowly resumed on Wednesday with more cancellations and delays after an electricity failure on Tuesday stranded thousands of passengers and trapped some for a night in a powerless train. Two London-Paris trains were cancelled and most trips were delayed in both directions as Eurostar warned of “knock-on impacts” on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading...

Artwork by one of the most influential artists of 20th century raffled to fund Alzheimer’s research His work is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive art, with paintings fetching more than a $100m at auction. But you no longer need to be a multimillionaire to own a Picasso – for €100, anyone in the world has the chance to walk away with a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. The French charity Alzheimer’s Research Foundation announced recently it was raffling Picasso’s 1941 portrait, Tête de femme, which is worth more than €1m, to a single

Despite reviews of the district as a raucous tourist trap, improved policing has restored safety and an eclectic vibe When Ireland redeveloped a swathe of central Dublin in the 1990s, the idea was to create a version of Paris’s Left Bank, a cultural quarter of cobbled lanes, art and urban renewal. Planners and architects transformed the run-down Temple Bar site by the River Liffey into an ambitious experiment that drew throngs of visitors and won awards. Continue reading...

Country’s six-month stint at helm begins with defence, migration and Ukraine still at top of agenda Cyprus says it will bring “a new approach to the table” when it assumes the EU presidency on Thursday, as defence, migration and Ukraine continue to top the agenda at a time of acute geopolitical uncertainty. As one of the bloc’s smaller member states, Cyprus will tackle its six-month stint at the EU’s helm with discipline and dedication but also “a different mindset”, the Cypriot foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, said. Continue reading...

Demonstrations against deteriorating living conditions have widened to include criticism of how Iran is governed Alborz, a textile merchant in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, decided he could no longer sit on the sidelines. He closed his shop and took to the streets, joining merchants across Iran who shuttered their stores and students who took over their campuses to protest against declining economic conditions. The sudden loss of purchasing power pushed Alborz and tens of thousands of other Iranians into the streets, where protests are now entering their fourth day. Students have paralysed university campuses, traders have shut down their stores

Government should have appointed an envoy to carry out checks on activist in citizenship row, says Emily Thornberry The government could have avoided “embarrassing failures” in the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah by having a special envoy deal with complex cases involving Britons detained abroad, Emily Thornberry has said. The chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee criticised “serious shortcomings” in information sharing, which she said could have been resolved by having a dedicated official carry out background checks. Continue reading...

President calls for talks with leaders of demonstrations caused by decline in currency and living standards Iran’s government has called for dialogue with protest leaders after the country’s largest demonstrations in three years over a plunging currency and declining living conditions. Protests started on Sunday after Iran’s currency fell to a record low against the US dollar, causing traders and shopkeepers to close their stores in downtown Tehran. This was accompanied by mass protests in the capital as well as in major cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad. Continue reading...

Attack was aimed at what Riyadh called a shipment of weapons for separatists backed by UAE The United Arab Emirates has said it will withdraw its remaining forces in Yemen after tensions with Saudi Arabia escalated over a sweeping offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The Emirati defence ministry announced the withdrawal on Tuesday, hours after Saudi Arabia bombed what it said was a shipment of weapons for Yemeni separatists that had arrived from the UAE. Continue reading...

Isaac Herzog’s spokesperson says he has not spoken to Trump since US president wrote to urge him to stop trial The office of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has denied a claim by Donald Trump that Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, would soon receive a pardon. Speaking shortly before his meeting in Florida with the Israeli prime minister on Monday night, Trump said he had been told by Herzog that a pardon was “on its way”. Continue reading...

Zia’s archrivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation Khaleda Zia, the first female prime minister of Bangladesh whose long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation, has died aged 80. Zia was one of the most significant and divisive political figures in the country since Bangladesh independence 50 years ago. Her death was announced on Tuesday morning by the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP). Continue reading...

Turnout appears low for vote in which most candidates seen as allies of junta and large areas excluded by war Polls have closed in conflict-racked Myanmar, ending the first phase of an election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to legitimise the military junta’s rule. The military has touted the vote as a return to democracy almost five years after it seized power in a coup, ousting the country’s then de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, detaining her and sparking a spiralling civil war. Continue reading...

Kathmandu mayor Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah will run for prime minister with presenter Rabi Lamichhane’s party after deadly protests that ousted government Two of Nepal’s most popular political leaders have formed an alliance ahead of next year’s election in the wake of deadly youth-led protests earlier in the year that ousted the government. Television host Rabi Lamichhane, the 51-year-old chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP), and the 35-year-old rapper turned Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah pledged to address the demands of the younger generation following September’s deadly anti-corruption protests. Continue reading...

As the military pushes ahead with a widely condemned election, Beijing’s priorities are proving decisive * Myanmar’s first election since the 2021 coup: everything you need to know Myanmar’s military has managed to regain momentum in its battle against a determined patchwork of opposition groups, retaking some territory, and pushing ahead with a widely condemned election that begins on Sunday. It is a turnaround for the military, which had appeared so beleaguered that some dared to question if it could collapse. Continue reading...

Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracy Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”. “This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar

Exclusive: Pilot scheme launches as one in five start primary school with no protection against deadly diseases Health visitors will be sent door-to-door to deliver vaccines to children in England amid alarm that one in five start primary school with no protection against deadly diseases, the Guardian can reveal. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that at least 95% of children should receive vaccine doses for each illness to achieve herd immunity. However, not a single one of the main childhood vaccines in England hit the target in 2024-25. There were also sharp differences in uptake across the country. Continue reading...

BBC reveals latest cast, which also features cybersecurity expert, sweet shop assistant and personal trainer A retired police detective, a crime writer and a psychologist are among the next cohort of contestants to enter The Traitors’ castle, as the BBC revealed details of the latest series of its smash-hit sleuthing show. A sweet shop assistant, a cybersecurity expert and a personal trainer are also among those to be divided into plotting “traitors” and the “faithfuls” tasked with unmasking them. Continue reading...

PM to highlight energy bill and interest rate cuts, plus end to two-child benefit cap, and to invite his MPs to Chequers Keir Starmer will attempt to rescue his relationship with disillusioned voters and his own fractious MPs in a new year push to reduce the cost of living. The prime minister will give a speech in the coming days focusing on how his government is bringing down living costs, highlighting recent cuts to energy bills and interest rates and the end of the two-child benefit cap. Continue reading...

Green party leader says he could see potential for political partnership with Labour under Andy Burnham The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, has said he would refuse to work with Keir Starmer but could work with Andy Burnham, Starmer’s potential rival for the Labour leadership, to keep Reform out of power. Polanski said he would not enter a political partnership with Labour under the current prime minister, but would consider it if the mayor of Greater Manchester took the helm. Continue reading...

Food Standards Agency issues product alert for still and sparkling 750ml bottles of Waitrose No 1 Deeside mineral water Waitrose customers are being urged to return and not drink large bottles of Deeside mineral water over fears they could contain shards of glass. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a consumer alert over the still and sparkling 750ml bottles of Waitrose No 1 Deeside mineral water because of the possibility of glass fragments, making them unsafe to drink. Continue reading...

Colorado lawmaker , who pushed for Epstein files release, points to bill’s unanimous passage through US House and Senate Republican representative Lauren Boebert has fired back at Donald Trump for vetoing a bill that would have funded a drinking water project in her Colorado district, implying the president was playing at political retaliation. The bill was aimed at funding a decades-long project to bring safe drinking water to 39 communities in Colorado’s eastern plains, where the groundwater is high in salt and wells sometimes unleash radioactivity into the water supply. Continue reading...

Trump official says funds will be released ‘only when states prove they are being spent legitimately’ The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday. States’ funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately”. The report came a day after Jim O’Neill, the HHS deputy secretary, and Alex Adams, an HHS assistant secretary who oversees the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), appeared in a Tuesday evening video message. O’Neill declared that the department had “activated our

Ex-special counsel testified in front of judiciary committee about aborted federal prosecution of Donald Trump Jack Smith, the former justice department special counsel who led the aborted federal prosecution of Donald Trump, told a congressional committee that he never spoke to Joe Biden about his cases, according to the transcript of a deposition released on Wednesday. In his behind-closed-doors testimony to the House judiciary committee earlier this month, Smith defended the charges he brought against Trump for allegedly possessing classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election, while warning of the consequences of allowing election meddling to go unpunished. Continue reading...

Decision comes after DoJ stopped contesting California court’s ruling to return control of guard to state’s governor Donald Trump has staged a sudden climbdown from his attempts to impose federal troops in law enforcement roles on Democratic-run cities, announcing on Wednesday that he was ending attempted deployments from Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland. The unexpected shift came after justice department lawyers said they were no longer contesting a California court’s ruling that returned the national guard troops to the authority of Gavin Newsom, the state’s governor. It also followed a rare rebuke from the US supreme court, which blocked the White House’s

Campaign will target rightwing ideologues to fill ranks to meet Trump deportation goals in 2026 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly planned a $100m, one-year media blitz for what it’s calling “wartime recruitment”, targeting conservative radio show listeners, gun rights aficionados, military affairs followers and men’s interests enthusiasts – among others in the Maga-verse – for jobs in the Trump administration’s next phase of its mass deportation campaign. “Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?” one of the agency’s ads says, directing interested readers to apply. Continue reading...

France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law seen by Agence France-Presse. The initiative is backed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier this month that parliament should start debating such a proposal in January. Australia this month imposed a social media ban on under-16s, in a world first. “Many studies and reports now confirm the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that his country believed it would win in Ukraine, where Moscow has led an almost four-year offensive. Putin’s traditional New Year’s Eve speech was first aired in the far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the first Russian region to enter 2026. He called on Russians to “support our heroes” fighting in Ukraine, saying: “We believe in you and our victory.” He wished a happy New Year to “fighters and commanders” in Ukraine and said: “Millions of people...

Finnish police said on Wednesday they had seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable that runs between Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland several hours earlier. No details about the identity of the vessel were disclosed. The ship is suspected of being “responsible for the damage to the cable”, which is owned by Finnish telecoms group Elisa and located in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, police said in a statement. Part of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland is...

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will undoubtedly play a significant role in how we will remember 2025. While economists predicted a growing possibility of a recession back in April, the US economy displayed unexpected resilience, with third-quarter growth reaching a stunning 4.3 per cent, bolstered by robust consumer spending and strong capital expenditure related to artificial intelligence. The impact of tariffs on inflation persists, although it appears less severe than economists feared....

Queen Camilla has described for the first time fighting off an attack by a man on a train when she was a teenager, speaking in an interview with the BBC in which she recounted how furious the assault had left her. “When I was a teenager, I was attacked on a train … I remember at ⁠the time being so angry,” she said during a discussion broadcast on Wednesday about violence against women. “I was reading my book and you know this boy – man – attacked me, and I did fight back.” She said she did not...

Mali and Burkina Faso have announced travel restrictions on American nationals in a tit-for-tat move after the United States included both African countries on a no entry list. US President Donald Trump, who has long campaigned to restrict immigration, expanded a travel ban earlier this month by barring people from seven more countries. The list included Syrian citizens, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, and nationals of some of Africa’s poorest countries, including Niger,...

The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter. The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September marked a significant escalation in the administration’s months-long pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The strike has not been...

Junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya was declared the winner of Guinea’s presidential election held over the weekend, according to incomplete results released late on Tuesday, the country’s first election since a 2021 coup. Doumbouya won 86.72 per cent of the votes counted so far, according to the General Directorate of Elections. Ahead of the vote on Sunday, analysts had predicted that a weakened opposition would result in Doumbouya’s win. The election was widely seen as a means to legitimise...

European aviation giant Airbus won another two major orders from Chinese clients for a total of 90 A320neo aircraft on Tuesday, just a day after receiving orders for 55 passenger jets of the same model from two other Chinese airlines. Also on Tuesday, China Express Airlines announced it was purchasing three A320 planes at a list price of between US$390 million and US$420 million. The orders came weeks after Airbus’ CEO accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to China and...

President Xi Jinping has issued a mandate to expand grain production as China moves to shield its food supply from global volatility, calling for renewed efforts to modernise agriculture and rural areas over the coming year. Speaking at a two-day work conference in Beijing that ended on Tuesday, Xi urged a “no-relaxation” approach to grain output and called for higher overall production capacity and efficiency by integrating high-quality land, seeds, machinery and farming techniques. “We must...

US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker cast doubt on Tuesday on Russia’s accusation that Ukraine attacked President Vladimir ‌Putin’s residence, saying he wants to see US intelligence on the incident. “It is ‍unclear whether it actually happened,” Whitaker told Fox Business’ Varney & Co chat show in an interview about an alleged incident which Ukraine has denied. “It seems to me a little indelicate to be this close at a peace deal, Ukraine really ⁠wanting to get a peace deal done, and then to do...

Iranians have staged protests against worsening economic and living standards for a fourth day, with clashes between security forces and civilians erupting in cities across the Islamic Republic. Demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran and outside the capital on Wednesday, extending unrest that began after the national currency plunged to historic lows on Sunday. That has triggered a rise in food prices with inflation hitting more than 40 per cent in December, exacerbated by strict...

American environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late president John F. Kennedy, has died from cancer at the age of 35, her family announced on Tuesday. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation’s Instagram account. Schlossberg, a science and climate reporter for The New York Times, wrote movingly about her diagnosis with acute myeloid leukaemia in an essay...

France’s three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, is to attend the funeral next week of 1950s and 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot, a member of her team said on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron – who on Sunday hailed Bardot as a “legend” – would however not attend her funeral, a source in his office said. Bardot, who died aged 91 on Sunday, drew criticism in her later years for her anti-immigration views and for supporting the far-right. She was several times convicted in court for...

At least two oil tankers have made their way to Venezuela in recent days and others are navigating towards the country, a sign of ‍state-run oil and natural gas company PDVSA’s effort to expand floating storage and keep selling crude even as a US blockade has reduced exports to a minimum. US President Donald Trump this month announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in or out of Venezuelan waters as part of a strategy to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US move has...

Poland ‍has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted artificial intelligence-generated content including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said on Tuesday, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation. A TikTok profile showing videos of young women dressed in Polish national colours ⁠and calling for Poland to leave the EU has gained popularity in recent weeks. The profile has now disappeared from the...

Robbers used a large drill to break into a German bank’s vault room during the extended Christmas break and steal cash, gold and jewellery worth €30 million (US$35 million), police and the bank said on Tuesday. The spectacular heist in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, saw thieves smash open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and make off with the loot. While the criminals remained at large, hundreds of distressed bank customers massed outside the branch on Tuesday...

The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives. The ban was meant to start on January 1, but the ministry for ecological transition said that results from a recent review into the “technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups” justified pushing back the deadline. It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of “progress made in replacing single-use plastic...

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it ‌was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for UAE forces to leave within 24 hours, deepening a crisis between the two Gulf powers and oil producers. Hours earlier, Saudi-led ‍coalition forces had attacked the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla. The air strike on what Riyadh said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment was the most significant escalation to date in a widening rift between the two Gulf monarchies. In...

Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules. Israel said the rules were aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organisations. But the organisations said the rules were arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid. Israel...

Eurostar said on Tuesday it was restarting services suspended earlier over a power supply problem in the Channel Tunnel, as passengers travelling in the busy run-up to New Year faced massive disruption. Travellers were left scrambling to find alternatives after the operator postponed all services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. “As the Channel Tunnel has partially reopened we will start to resume services,” Eurostar said in a statement on its website midafternoon. A spokesperson...

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with imminent death in a text peppered with insults on Telegram. Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council and is known for his invective against Ukraine and its allies, referred to the Christmas address of Zelensky, saying he had wished death upon “a person” – presumably Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. “It is clear to everyone that he wishes death not only on ‘one person’,...

US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a grand deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping are being undercut by American allies’ self-interested amplification of the “China threat”. This year’s Nanking massacre memorial was particularly poignant in light of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s controversial remarks on Taiwan. Beijing warned that any attempt to challenge the post-war international order or undermine established historical truths would be “doomed to failure”. Meanwhile, Singaporean...

Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service in Belarus, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, as the US efforts to broker a deal to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine have entered a pivotal stage. The ministry released a video showing combat vehicles that are part of the mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile system driving across a forest as part of combat training. The ministry’s announcement followed a statement from Belarusian President...

Hollywood star George Clooney has become French, along with his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney and eight-year-old ⁠twins Alexander and Ella, an official decree on Monday showed. The publication, in France’s government gazette, confirms an ambition Clooney alluded to early in December, when he hailed French privacy laws that keep his family shielded from paparazzi. “I love the French culture, your language, even if I’m still bad at it after 400 days of courses,” the 64-year-old actor told RTL radio...

Looking back on 2025, we may be justified in calling it an annus horribilis for the world. There seems to be no end to the bad news: the war in Ukraine, the destruction of Gaza, the terror attack in Australia and the significant economic and political setbacks faced by many nations in Asia and across the world. All these paint a rather grim picture. However, there is more than a glimmer of hope on the horizon. International science cooperation has strengthened significantly this year, in spite...

Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen’s port city of Mukalla on Tuesday over what it described as a shipment of weapons for a separatist force there that arrived from the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom later directly linked the UAE to the separatists’ recent advances in Yemen and warned Abu Dhabi its actions were “extremely dangerous”. The attack signals a new escalation in tensions between the kingdom and the separatist forces of the Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the Emirates. It...

Actor Idris Elba and ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were among the hundreds named in British King Charles’ New Year ‌honours list published on Monday. The full list includes more than 1,157 people ‍in politics, sport, the arts or community service to be awarded titles from Member, Commander or Officer of the Order of the British Empire to the highest honours of knighthoods and damehoods. Elba, who is known for ⁠his roles in the television series Luther and The Wire, was awarded a...

Chinese firms are increasingly anchoring themselves in Dubai’s free trade zones to navigate trade barriers and tap new markets as rising protectionism and supply-chain shifts impact global commerce. Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), state-owned DP World’s flagship free economic zone at the western end of the city in the United Arab Emirates, hosted 507 Chinese companies as of November, nearly double the number in 2021. The trend reflected how a Middle Eastern hub offered companies “neutral, stable...

US President Donald Trump teased that he has a preferred candidate to be the next head of the Federal Reserve but is in no hurry to make an announcement while also musing that he might fire the central bank’s current leader, Jerome Powell. “I do, still do – hasn’t changed,” Trump said at a press conference on Monday, when asked if he has a favourite candidate. “I'll announce him at the right time. There’s plenty of time.” Trump added that Powell “should resign” and that he would “love to fire...

The United States said on Monday it had approved a US$1.8 billion sale of patrol aircraft to Denmark, despite renewed tension after an envoy of US President Donald Trump called again for seizing Greenland. The State Department said it approved a request from Denmark to buy the P-8A patrol and reconnaissance system from Boeing, which will include up to three aircraft. The sale will “support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of...

Venezuela criticised the United States on Monday over its decision to approve a large-scale arms sale to Taiwan, aligning itself with Beijing as tensions escalated around the island. In a statement issued by the foreign ministry, the Venezuelan government said the sale interfered in China’s internal affairs and breached international commitments undertaken by Washington. It reiterated its support for the one-China principle and said Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory”. The...

US President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes and said Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it fails to disarm in Gaza, as he presented a united front with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, Trump threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear programme or ballistic missile arsenal following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year. Trump also played down reports of tensions with Netanyahu...

Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied a claim by Donald Trump on Monday that the pair had discussed the US president’s request for a pardon on corruption charges for Israel’s premier. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of accepting luxury goods from billionaires in exchange for political favours, and of seeking to negotiate more favourable coverage from Israeli media outlets. “There has not been a conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon...

US President Donald Trump has indicated that the US has “hit” a dock facility along a shore as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the US offered few details. Trump initially seemed to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview Friday, and when questioned Monday by reporters about “an explosion in Venezuela”, he said the US struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up”. “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the...

The United Nations urged global leaders on Monday to focus on people and the planet in a New Year’s message depicting the world in chaos. “As we enter the new year, the world stands at a crossroads. Chaos and uncertainty surround us. Division. Violence. Climate breakdown. And systemic violations of international law,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a video message. In 2026, as war rages in Ukraine and elsewhere, world leaders must work to ease human suffering and fight climate...

Iran’s president urged his government to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters, state media reported Tuesday, after several days of demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over economic hardships. Shopkeepers in the capital had shut their stores for the second day in a row on Monday, after Iran’s embattled currency hit new lows on the unofficial market. The US dollar was trading at around 1.42 million rials on Sunday - compared to 820,000 rials a year ago - and the euro nearing 1.7...

Following angry exchanges on Monday, Russia dealt a fresh blow to diplomatic efforts on Tuesday by refusing to substantiate claims of a Ukrainian attack on President Vladimir Putin’s residence, instead using the unverified incident as justification to harden its position in conflict negotiations with Kyiv. US President Donald Trump said Putin had told him about the alleged attack in a phone call on Monday morning, which had angered him. Still, Trump repeated his belief that a peace deal may be...

President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law changes that give Russia the right ‌to ignore judgments in criminal cases issued by foreign and international ‍courts amid Ukrainian and European attempts to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. The move, which comes as US President Donald Trump is trying to broker a peace ⁠deal in Ukraine, appears to be a response to several initiatives to go after Russian officials and military officers for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, something Moscow...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he asked Donald Trump for US security guarantees lasting as long as half a century to help deter against any future Russian invasion. Current proposals under discussion as part of a peace plan set out a 15-year term with the possibility for an extension, though “I would like the guarantee to be much longer,” Zelensky said on Monday in an audio message to reporters. “We would like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years and then it will be a...

War drums not heard in half a century are beating across Europe. Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned that Europe “must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great grandparents endured”. British and French defence chiefs have urged their respective nations to be ready to lose children in the fight against Russia. Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6 warns of a “grey zone” between war and peace, citing threats from Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses...

The United States on Monday announced a US$2 billion pledge for UN humanitarian aid as President Donald Trump’s administration continued to slash US foreign assistance and warn United Nations agencies to “adapt, shrink or die” in a time of new financial realities. The money is a small fraction of what the US has contributed in the past but reflected what the administration believes is a generous amount that would maintain the United States’ status as the world’s largest humanitarian donor. The...

When US President Donald Trump stood outside the White House on April 2 and unveiled his punitive “Liberation Day” tariffs on most US trading partners, Asia was singled out for particularly harsh punishment. With the region accounting for seven of the 10 economies with the largest trade surpluses with the US, Asia was bound to be hit hard. However, as 2025 draws to a close, Asia’s economies have shown remarkable resilience. While several factors are at play, the most important one is the boom in...

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. Chinese nuclear experts believe Japan could build nukes in less than 3 years The late US statesman Henry Kissinger’s dire warning about Tokyo aiming to become a nuclear power by 2028 is being re-examined by Beijing. 2. A year after near total blackout, China builds world’s largest smart...

Mexican authorities ‌said on Sunday that at least 13 people were killed ‍after an Interoceanic Train carrying 250 people derailed in the southern state of Oaxaca. The Mexican Navy said the train, which derailed near the town of Nizanda, was carrying nine ⁠crew members and 241 passengers. Of those on board, 139 were reported to be out of danger, while 98 were injured, including 36 who were receiving medical assistance. President Claudia Sheinbaum said on X that five of the injured were in...

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect, announced several key appointments who could help implement central promises of his agenda, including universal child care.

See how people across the globe celebrated.

The New Year’s Eve celebration drew spectators from around the world, despite cold and blustery weather.

The attack was the 30th announced by the U.S. military since early September. It came days after President Trump said the U.S. had struck a coastal site related to drugs and Venezuela.

The listing could make it more challenging for U.S. forces to board the ship, which an arm of the Kremlin’s maritime authority says is now flying the Russian flag.

The number of American citizens held in Venezuela has grown since the start of the U.S. military and economic campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.

Amid mounting street protests, businesses, universities and government offices stayed closed Wednesday under government orders, in 21 of 31 provinces, including Tehran.

The attacker likely had links to the Islamic State and was possibly targeting a Christian church in the center of Aleppo, according to a government spokesman.

The S&P 500 gained 16.4 percent this year. But dependence on artificial intelligence remains a risk for 2026.

Mahsa Khanbabai’s client, a graduate student, had been whisked away by masked agents and held in lockup for weeks. Would a court free her — and would the government let her go?

When Tatiana Schlossberg submitted an essay to The New Yorker, it had not been assigned or even expected. It was accepted immediately and barely edited.

The actress, who died this week at 91, was an icon of 1960s cinema. She was also a hero to the French far right.

A star who never played coy for the camera was once an emblem of France.

We asked you to vote on the best films of the year. The results ranged from big box office hits to small art-house indies.

Syracuse, N.Y., has received nearly twice its usual monthly amount of snow in December.

How much more chaotic could a second Trump term be? 2025 did not disappoint.

A second Gilded Age, a single solution.

Two Times journalists joined Miles Taylor, a YouTuber and transport enthusiast, on a daylong journey across New York City area buses and trains before sale of the card ends on Dec. 31.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. did not directly address the tensions between the Trump administration and federal judges who have blocked the president’s agenda.

Dana Escoffier was indicted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Dean Whetzel, 82, a neighbor whom he had known for decades.

One of few people in the world of style who could legitimately claim the status of icon, she dressed to impress even before she became a designer.