Minimalist News

How To Convert Your 401(k) Into A Reliable Monthly Paycheck Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Yes, you can turn your 401(k) into a predictable monthly paycheck in retirement. The key is to move from the accumulation phase to a structured distribution strategy. Many retirees combine systematic withdrawals, dividend-producing investments, and guaranteed income sources such as annuities. Smart planning can turn your 401(k) balance into a predictable cash flow. Ladanifer/Shutterstock By balancing these tools and managing withdrawal rates carefully, you can convert a fluctuating retirement account balance into a steady income stream that helps cover monthly living expenses throughout

Hormuz Bypasses Maxed Out: Saudi East-West Pipeline Hits Record 7 MMb/d, As UAE Fujairah Crude Loadings Reach Capacity The ramp up in Saudi Arabia's Hormuz-bypassing East-West pipeline has been nothing short of remarkable. Two days after we reported that flow through the pipeline which crosses Saudi Arabia east to west for oil flows (hence the name) and is also known as the Abqaiq-Yanbu pipeline for nat gas flows had doubled from roughly 1.5 million before the war, today Bloomberg updates on the latest flow numbers and it now appears that the crucial East-West pipeline is pumping oil at its full capacity of

Audits Spotlight Unusual Trends In Medicaid Spending For Autism Care Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times, One in 31 U.S. children has an autism diagnosis. Among Minnesota’s Somali community, that number jumps to one in 12. That discrepancy made headlines last fall when the Department of Justice charged a Somali woman with netting millions in fraudulent autism services. Now, state and federal investigators are putting autism spending in the spotlight. The September 2025 federal indictment alleged that a therapy center—run by 28-year-old Asha Farhan Hassan—recruited Somali children for an autism services program that was then reimbursed by Medicaid. The White House pointed to the

French Police Foil Overnight Terror Plot: Suspect Caught Trying To Ignite Bomb Outside BofA Headquarters In Paris French anti-terrorism authorities thwarted an attempted attack early Saturday morning when police arrested a suspect as he tried to ignite an explosive device directly in front of the Bank of America headquarters in Paris.  The incident unfolded around 3:25-3:30 a.m. when officers from the Paris police's BAC (Brigade Anti-Criminalité) unit, already on heightened patrol near the building due to prior threats, spotted the individual attempting to set fire to the device with a lighter. The device consisted of a 5-liter transparent jerrycan filled with an

Russia Warns Situation At Bushehr Nuclear Plant Deteriorating After 3rd Airstrike In Ten Days On Friday Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that Bushehr nuclear power plant was struck by US-Israeli attacks for the third time since the start of the war. At the same time, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has confirmed that the situation continues to deteriorate; however, there's as yet been no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation reported. It was the third strike in just ten days. The Kremlin has newly accused Washington and Israel of putting the whole region in danger, and

Maersk Slaps Emergency Fuel Surcharge As War Upends Marine Supply Chains Submitted by Michael Kern of OilPrice.com, The war in the Middle East has upended shipping fuel markets with prices of marine fuels skyrocketing and regions running low on supply, pushing some traders to forgo cargo and ship additional fuel volumes to key bunkering ports outside the Middle East. The price of fuel oil has surged this month as the stalled tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz is tightening supplies of the fuel in Asia, the key bunkering hub for fuel oil used in ships. The Middle East is a major global supplier

Apple Forces British iPhone Users To Prove Age With ID Or Lose Unrestricted Internet Access Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, UK iPhone and iPad owners updating to the latest iOS 26.4 are now confronted with a stark choice: verify you are an adult by providing a credit card or scanning your ID, or accept automatic web content filters that restrict access. The message users see states clearly: “UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions.” Those who do not confirm their age – or are found to be underage – have web content filters turned on automatically.  > 🚨NEWS: UK

US Suffers Heavy Casualties In Iranian Strike On Saudi Base As Houthis Enter War With Missile Launches On Israel SUMMARY * Houthis enter the war: Houthis launch their first missile barrage on Israel since Operation Epic Fury. Red Sea shipping could once again be under direct threat. * Serious US casualties in Saudi base assault: Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops: AP. Late-night strike targeted Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (for third time of war). * Gulf states under sustained fire, casualties mount: Six wounded in

The European Union Hates Hungary, Loves Ukraine Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker, What’s in a name?  These days…not much. The European Union does not include Ukraine; nevertheless and notwithstanding the objections of E.U. members Hungary and Slovakia... ...the European supra-state insists on paying the salaries of Ukraine’s government bureaucracy while that nation’s martial-law-holdover-president, Volodymyr Zelensky, fights to maintain control over a breakaway region that has rejected Ukrainian rule since the 2014 coup d’état of Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization does not include Ukraine; nevertheless and notwithstanding the objections of NATO members Hungary and Slovakia... ....the American-led military alliance insists on sending money and weapons to

Trump Signs Memo Directing DHS To Pay TSA Agents; First Paychecks Could Arrive Monday SUMMARY:   * Reuters says 50,000 TSA agents could be paid as early as Monday * Trump officially puts out a presidential memorandum instructing DHS to pay TSA agents * House Speaker Mike Johnson agreed to put a short-term DHS funding package on the floor * The resolution would fund all of DHS, including ICE and CBP * It would replace the Senate-passed bill on the House floor * Chuck Schumer says it's 'DOA' TRUMP PUTS OUT ORDER INSTRUCTING DHS TO PAY TSA AGENTS President Trump wrote in a presidential

US Signals Allies 'No Immediate Plans' For Ground Invasion, As Iran Warns 'Heavy Price' To Pay For Nuclear & Steel Plant Attacks SUMMARY * US signals to allies no ground invasion coming, with thousands of troops still en route: Iran denies requesting Donald Trump’s 10-day halt; Israel attacks steel & industrial sites. Also, Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, part of the Arak Nuclear Complex, targeted. Yellow Cake factory in Yazd province hit. * Escalation on all fronts: IRGC HQ targeted by US-Israsel; Iran signals expansion by naming UAE targets, hitting Kuwait ports and sending drones on Riyadh. Iran newly warning it will

A Kid Just 3D-Printed A $97 MANPAD Rocket Launcher A viral video circulating on X appears to show a young developer unveiling a 3D-printed proof-of-concept prototype of a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile system, or MANPADS, built for less than $100. According to the project page on GitHub, the five-minute video showcases a "proof-of-concept prototype of a low-cost rocket launcher and guided rocket system built using consumer electronics and 3D-printed components." The project description says the system uses an onboard flight computer, inertial measurement hardware, and a sensor stack that includes GPS, compass, and barometric modules to determine orientation and transmit telemetry. At the end of

European Conservative Lawmakers Warn Of 'No-Go Zones' Tied To Mass Immigration And Islamization Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, A new report backed by European conservative lawmakers is sounding the alarm over what it describes as the spread of “no-go zones” across the European Union, linking the phenomenon directly to mass immigration, Islamization, and the breakdown of state authority in major urban areas. The report was presented at a press conference on Wednesday by Sweden Democrats MEP Charlie Weimers, French nationalist MEP Marion Maréchal, and Brothers of Italy MEP Nicola Procaccini. Published by New Direction, the foundation tied to the ECR parliamentary

Why Is The Trump DOJ Still Enforcing The Biden Pistol Brace Rule? Via Gun Owners of America, The current Department of Justice is choosing to continue enforcing an unconstitutional legal theory being weaponized against gun owners by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. GOA According to a recent statement in GOA’s Texas et al. v. ATF case, DOJ claims that ATF “continue[s] to enforce the NFA’s and the GCA’s regulation of short-barreled rifles against some brace-equipped pistols, even though the Rule has been universally vacated.” For those who are unfamiliar, in 2022 the Biden Administration issued an executive order instructing the Department of

Black Women Bear Brunt Of Mass Layoffs With The Rise Of AI And The End Of DEI Over the course of the last decade, the great social debate has mostly revolved around the issue of "merit vs equity", or equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome.  For anyone with common sense it's clear that "equity" is a non-starter; a system which skews accomplishment and hands success to unqualified people based solely on their ethnicity, gender or sexual identity.  The experiment has been disastrous for western civilization so far. Women in general and black women in particular were initially sought out by companies

Macquarie: Two More Months Of War Could Send Oil To $200 Submitted by Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com  Oil prices could hit a record $200 per barrel if the war in the Middle East drags on through the entire second quarter, analysts at Macquarie Group have warned.  The odds of the Iran war dragging on until June were put at 40% by the analysts in a note carried by Bloomberg. But the scenario of the war ending by the end of March currently appears more plausible, with odds at 60%, according to Macquarie.    “If the strait were to stay closed for an extended period, prices

Israeli Military Chief Warns Army Nearing Internal Collapse As Netanyahu Pushes Service Extensions In a surprising announcement splashed all over Israeli media front pages, especially given the ongoing censorship regimen related to the Iran war, Israel's military chief has sounded the alarm over a severe manpower crisis in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has warned the "IDF is going to collapse in on itself" during a security cabinet meeting this week, according to Times of Israel and others. This as Israeli forces are now fighting on multiple fronts: there's the major war against Iran,

Vance Claims Iran Could Make Nuclear Suicide Vest Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, Vice President JD Vance on Thursday attempted to justify the continued US-Israeli war against Iran by implying that Iran could potentially turn a nuclear bomb into a suicide vest, a claim not grounded in reality. Vance made the claim during a cabinet meeting while discussing military and diplomatic "options" that the US has regarding the conflict with Iran. He has continued to portray the war as being necessary to prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon, though there was no evidence that Tehran had decided to build a bomb either before the

Americans Are Becoming More And More Interested In Buying Chinese EVs As electric vehicle (EV) adoption grows in the United States, a segment of American consumers is increasingly drawn to Chinese-made models—largely due to their affordability, advanced technology, and feature-rich designs. However, steep trade barriers and political resistance continue to keep these vehicles out of the U.S. market, according to Reuters.  With the average price of a new car in the U.S. մոտ $50,000, Chinese EVs—many of which sell for under $30,000 in international markets—are gaining attention for offering strong value. Models from automakers such as BYD, Geely, and Zeekr often include

US Offers Up To $3 Million Bounty For Information On Finances Of Haitian Gangs Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The U.S. government on March 25 announced a bounty of up to $3 million for information on the finances of Haiti’s ‌Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif gangs. Armed police ride in the back of a truck after the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were deserted following a call for a general strike launched by several professional associations and companies to denounce insecurity in Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 18, 2021. Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images The United States designated both groups,

AI-generated footage depicts group of men performing a corrido, singing phrases including ‘return to your roots’ An AI-generated video from the US embassy in Mexico encouraging migrants to “self-deport” has sparked disbelief and outrage online. The video posted this week on official embassy social media accounts depicts a group of men wearing black caps and sporting tattoos performing a kind of traditional Mexican ballad known as a corrido. Continue reading...

Female named Rounder surrounded by family members when about to give birth to her second calf Scientists have managed to film a sperm whale giving birth while other female whales worked together to support the mother and her newborn. A team from Project Ceti, an international effort seeking to understand how whales communicate, was in a boat near a pod of 11 whales off the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica on 8 July 2023. Continue reading...

Two convoy vessels that were supposed to get to Havana by Wednesday have made it to Cuba, says US Coast Guard Two sailing boats that went missing while carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba have safely reached the Caribbean island, the US Coast Guard said on Friday. Earlier in the day Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, had said his country would do everything it could to save the people on the two boats that disappeared while travelling to Cuba from Mexico. Continue reading...

Navy searching for two boats that left Isla Mujeres last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board Mexico’s navy said on Thursday it had activated a search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean to locate two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba after the vessels failed to arrive in Havana as scheduled. In a statement, the navy said the two boats left Isla Mujeres, in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board. Continue reading...

Petition seeks accountability from Salvadorian authorities over human rights violations at notorious Cecot facility A group of 18 Venezuelan men whom the US expelled a notorious Salvadorian mega-prison are demanding that Salvadorian authorities be held internationally accountable for violation of human rights – detailing new allegations of torture, sexual assault and medical neglect. A new petition, filed on Thursday before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleges that El Salvador violated the human rights of these men, who were expelled to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) last year without charge. Continue reading...

Malcolm Turnbull asks defence department official what Australia would do if the promised Virginia-class and Aukus-class submarines don’t arrive * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons the Aukus deal with the US and UK, a senior defence official has warned, declining to publicly countenance an alternative plan if Australia’s promised nuclear-powered fleet does not arrive under Australian command. “Defence has been directed to pursue Aukus and we are pursuing Aukus and that’s our plan. I would not

US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this year * Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war. Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Indonesia reports growing number of attempts by Chinese nationals to organise boat journeys, as Australian authorities refuse to reveal details * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has refused to reveal how many Chinese nationals have arrived in Australia by boat since 2024, saying that disclosing the figure may harm relations with other countries. However, reports by Indonesian police show that there has been a consistent trend of Chinese nationals attempting to reach Australia through Indonesia as an alternative to “zouxian”, or “walking

UK urged to tackle transnational repression, as dissidents say Beijing has targeted them with tax bills and other threats “I didn’t feel safe, even though I’m not based in Hong Kong any more,” said Christopher Mung Siu-tat after getting tax bills from Hong Kong authorities. “The regime can reach me by their long arms wherever I am.” Siu-tat, the executive director at the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, a UK-based NGO, fled Beijing’s sweeping national security laws years ago. The letters are the latest example of a series of transnational repression (TNR) tactics the 54-year-old has faced in recent years. Continue reading...

President’s declaration allows officials to tackle fuel hoarding or profiteering, while energy secretary says country will lean more heavily on coal * Middle East crisis – live updates The Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, has declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”. The state of emergency, which will initially last for a year, was declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as

Allan government says measure is temporary as energy shock from Middle East conflict sees petrol prices soar * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Public transport will be free in Victoria for a month, in an effort to encourage people to switch from driving and alleviate the surge in demand for fuel. The Allan government announced on Sunday that it would make all metro and regional V/Line trams, trains and buses free from 31 March until the end of April. Continue reading...

Major gas infrastructure hit by outages as weather system continues south-east * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Zac Saber did not sleep a wink as ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle battered the Western Australian coast on Friday night. As fellow Exmouth locals took shelter in evacuation centres and homes, Saber spent the night listening to the sound of “super intense” winds rattling his walls. Continue reading...

PM did not rule out later fuel rationing or work-from-home measures but said he strongly preferred ‘voluntary arrangements’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government will take on the financial risk of additional imports of essential products affected by the war in the Middle East, to get extra supplies of petrol, diesel and fertiliser into the country. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the new fuel security powers on Saturday after a month of soaring diesel and petrol prices and widespread shortages at service stations, particularly in regional Australia. Continue reading...

Government, industry and opposition see growing public support for a new gas tax but the industry is fighting back * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The gas industry is mobilising in opposition to a potential new tax on the sector as political momentum builds – including among Labor MPs – for the government to use the May budget to prevent producers profiting from the Middle East war. The Australian Energy Producers (AEP) chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, claimed a new tax would punish the same Asian trading partners Australia was leaning on to supply more fuel amid

Unions and farmers call for government intervention as agriculture, construction and waste industries also at risk from higher prices * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Care workers, tradespeople and transport drivers are being hit hard by ballooning fuel costs, with some industry groups urging the government to roll out assistance packages or even a jobkeeper-style wage assistance program to help businesses avoid laying off staff. Reports of small mining businesses scaling back operations and some construction companies deciding against hiring more apprentices have prompted suggestions the government should step in to help, with the Master Builders

Survivors tell coastguard smugglers ordered victims to be thrown overboard after six days adrift in boat from Libya Two Sudanese men, believed by Greek authorities to have been behind a smuggling operation in which 22 people were “systematically” thrown overboard after succumbing to days without food or water at sea, have been ordered to appear before a local court on Crete. Accused of illegally trafficking scores of would-be migrants into the south-eastern European country from Libya, the duo were given 48 hours to prepare to testify before an investigating magistrate on Monday. Continue reading...

Incident in the city’s 8th arrondissement reportedly involved a homemade explosive device French police prevented an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris on Saturday when they arrested a man about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case said. The incident occurred at about 3.30am (0230 GMT) in front of a Bank of America building in the city’s 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets away from the Champs-Élysées. Continue reading...

Prime minister is scrambling to clean up her government after youth vote powered a damaging referendum defeat Filippo Michelini was having a drink at San Calisto, a popular bar in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood on Wednesday night. As he chatted to his friends, Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government was reeling from a failed referendum, and her beleaguered tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, had just resigned. Michelini, a 29-year-old computer scientist who lives in Brussels, was spending a few days in the Italian capital after returning home last weekend to cast his ballot in the plebiscite on judicial changes. Continue reading...

Decision to choose small, wealthy – but very Catholic – state for first European trip has baffled some Vatican observers Pope Leo will travel to Monaco, the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, on Saturday on his first European trip since being elected pontiff, causing bemusement among some Vatican observers, not least because it comes 488 years after the last papal visit. Leo will travel from the Vatican by helicopter for the one-day trip, and will be greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert and his wife, Princess Charlene, before being taken to the palace, which has been the residence of the

Rescuers used boats and excavators to try to guide 10-metre long sea mammal to deeper waters A humpback whale stranded on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast since early this week has freed itself and swum into deeper waters, rescuers said on Friday. A flotilla of vessels were following the weakened animal at a distance, hoping to help guide it into the North Sea and toward the Atlantic Ocean, its natural habitat. Continue reading...

CNN team detained while reporting on aftermath of attack by settlers in West Bank, Foreign Press Association says * Middle East crisis – live updates An international media association has condemned what it described as a “violent assault” by Israeli soldiers who detained a CNN crew in the occupied West Bank this week. A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when it was detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said on Saturday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: World Service director Fiona Crack says platform pursues stories ignored by the Gulf’s state-owned media A senior BBC executive has defended BBC Arabic as a lone voice in the region covering the “Israeli perspective”, as she warned its critics that it pursued stories ignored by the Gulf’s state-owned media. The corporation’s Arabic service has come under sustained criticism in recent years, for its selection of coverage and for featuring some guests that had expressed antisemitic views on social media. There have even been calls for the service to be closed down. Continue reading...

Israeli military says primary target, killed in a missile strike far from the frontlines, was a Hezbollah ‘terrorist’ * Middle East crisis – live updates Israel killed three journalists in south Lebanon on Saturday, their TV channels and authorities said, prompting condemnation from the Lebanese government who called the killings a “blatant war crime”. Ali Shoeib, from the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar television station, Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni from the pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, were killed in the strike targeting their car. Continue reading...

Escalation represents dangerous spread of war and brings threat of even more damage to the global economy * Middle East crisis – live updates * Parents of Iran school bombing victims describe their worst day The US-Israeli war with Iran has expanded with the entry of Houthi forces in Yemen, representing a dangerous spread of the conflict and bringing with it the threat of more damage to the global economy. Pakistan has said it would host a meeting of Middle Eastern powers on Monday in an effort to find a regional approach to ending the conflict. But the talks, which bring together

Secretary of state Marco Rubio repeats administration’s belief that US can achieve its aims without a ground war Amid tentative White House efforts at diplomacy to end the war in Iran, US troops have also been arriving in the region to deliver what Donald Trump has hoped could be a knockout blow if he can’t negotiate a ceasefire with Tehran. Thousands of US marines aboard navy amphibious ships from the 31st and 11th expeditionary units have been deployed to the Middle East from Asia. Another 2,000-odd paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are also being sent to the theatre – they are tasked

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

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

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

From a shop owner in India to a community worker in New South Wales, rising fuel prices are forcing people to ration oil usage * Middle East crisis – live updates Alagesan, 35, needs liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to run his roadside drink and snack shop in Coimbatore, India, but with the fuel shortage since the US-Israel attacks on Iran, he worries his business could fold. “I am far away from the Middle East, but my life is affected,” he said. “The gas cylinder is not available because of the war. I don’t know what to do.” Continue reading...

At least 400 killed in Pakistan’s strike on drug rehab centre, Taliban say, with families searching unmarked mass graves Sohrab Faqiri spent Eid, the Muslim festival to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, looking for the grave of his brother, killed in a massive Pakistan airstrike on Kabul this week. Pakistan’s bombardment campaign, on what it says is terrorist and military infrastructure in neighbouring Afghanistan, appeared to have gone catastrophically wrong. A rehabilitation centre for drug addicts was hit on Monday night, according to the United Nations and the Afghan authorities. The UN’s preliminary death toll is 143 people,

Organisers claim half a million people are marching through central London, protesting against the rise of the far right Some protesters have spoken to PA earmarking opposition to Reform UK, support for Palestine and anti-racism as drivers for their attendance. Paige Horsford, 34, a media and English teacher from New Romney, Kent, said she joined the Together march because she has witnessed racist incidents at her school. Continue reading...

Four people arrested as police appeal for help in identifying woman found unconscious on street Police in Leeds have launched a murder investigation after a young woman died after being found unconscious on the street. Officers were called at 5.55am on Saturday to Kennerleigh Avenue in Austhorpe where they found the woman with serious injuries. She was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. Continue reading...

More than 100 charities, campaign groups and trade unions marched in a show of unity against far right politics * Together Alliance march – live updates Tens of thousands of people have gathered in London to march against the far right in the biggest multicultural demonstration in UK history. Organisers claimed half a million people had travelled to the capital for the Together Alliance march. Police estimated the turnout closer to 50,000, although they admitted it was difficult to judge due to how spread out the crowd was. Continue reading...

Olivia Bailey says she wants Sure Start-style hubs that will be rolled out in England on Monday to be inclusive for all Reform UK’s “pro-family” policies are a sham and exclude non-traditional families, the government’s early years minister has said before the rollout of hundreds of new Sure Start-style family centres across England on Monday. Olivia Bailey said she wanted the hubs to be inclusive for all families and transform communities, after what she called the “criminal” dismantling of Sure Start under the last Conservative government. Continue reading...

Murder investigation launched after man, 26, killed in central London on Friday night The Metropolitan police have launched a murder investigation after a man was stabbed in central London on Friday night. Officers were called to Abbey Orchard Street, Westminster, at 10.17pm after receiving reports that a man had been stabbed. The scene of the incident is near Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. Continue reading...

More than 3,000 No Kings events scheduled across the US in third set of protests since Trump re-election * What to know about the third No Kings protests happening in March In the year since Donald Trump retook office, the number of protests in the US outpaced those at the same point in his first administration, according to data from the Crowd Counting Consortium, an open-source project collaboration between Harvard University’s Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut, reported Lex McMenamin and Andrew Witherspoon. There were more than 10,700 protests in 2025, a 133% increase from the 4,588 recorded in 2017, the

Protesters decried Trump administration healthcare policies and direction of HHS under leadership of RFK Jr As tens of thousands of people assembled across the US and around the world for No Kings protests, about a thousand people gathered outside the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday morning to protest cuts to medical research and the Trump’s administration’s policies on health. The rally follows a tumultuous year for the research agency, with devastating cuts to multi-year funding and outright terminations of grants, especially to research related to gender and race. The White House is now poised to cut the

Bill passes by 213 to 203 votes in move prolonging weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel US House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead passed their own funding measure late on Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted air travel. The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol. Continue reading...

Teenager alleged she faced racism from teacher who told her to ‘go back to her country’ for refusing to stand for pledge of allegiance A Palestinian and Arab middle school student in Michigan who was publicly admonished for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance as part of a personal protest against the war on Gaza has settled with her school district following a lawsuit around her first amendment free speech rights. The teenager, identified as DK in court documents, said she faced racism from a teacher at the West Middle school in Canton, Michigan, after she did not participate in

Treasury department said Financial Times article about Scott Bessent’s views on Fed oversight was ‘manufactured’ The US treasury department demanded on Friday that the Financial Times (FT) retract a report on treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s views on the Federal Reserve, accusing the newspaper of publishing “false claims” in a formal complaint that was escalated to the news outlet’s parent company, Nikkei Inc. The email from treasury officials, addressed to senior editors at the FT and Nikkei, disputed multiple claims in the story and criticized the headline as misrepresenting the underlying reporting. Continue reading...

The law of unintended consequences, a theory popularised by American sociologist Robert K Merton, has rarely been more applicable to any situation than to US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Those consequences will be far greater than generally imagined. Their impact will fall heavily on Asia, the world’s most energy-import-dependent region and will almost certainly hurt US ally Japan more than it will the US’ main rival, China. Indeed, China may even emerge from the crisis with an...

A month after the US and Israel launched the war with Iran, nothing seems to be going according to President Donald Trump’s plan for a conflict lasting four to six weeks. Despite the assassinations of most of the Islamic Republic’s political and military leaders, the regime shows no signs of collapse. Similarly, wave after wave of US and Israeli air strikes may have degraded Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities, but they still look set to remain a potent threat to the region for the...

Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the widening gap between the haves and have-nots as he visited Monaco, a millionaires’ playground that is the surprise pick for the first Western European trip of his papacy. Arriving by helicopter from Rome, the Pope was greeted by Monaco’s ruler Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene at Monte Carlo’s heliport under radiant sunshine. Just after his arrival at the tiny principality on the French Riviera, Leo condemned what he termed the widening “chasms...

Bank of America has agreed to pay US$72.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the bank facilitated a sex-trafficking ring orchestrated by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents showed on Friday. Bank of America said separately that while it continued to deny supporting Epstein’s crimes, “this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs”. The suit, filed by an unidentified woman on behalf of herself and other alleged victims,...

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Friday he believed Iran would hold talks with Washington “this week” as the US-Israeli war against Tehran entered its second month. The war began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched air strikes across Iran, killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sending shock waves across the globe. A month later the conflict showed no sign of ending, with US-Israeli strikes hitting two Iranian nuclear facilities on...

The way Stephen Selby tells it, Guiguzi (鬼谷子) sounds like the ancient Chinese version of Dale Carnegie’s enduring self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Given its contents and message, it should have been a text for the ages. After all, whether ancient, modern, postmodern, Eastern or Western, many of us still need to kiss up to wayward bosses and stroke their egos if we want to advance our careers – not to mention ancient despots who could chop off your head for saying the...

Henry Lee, the famed forensic scientist who helped bring modern crime scene investigation into the public spotlight through his involvement in high-profile cases like the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died. He was 87. Lee “passed away peacefully” on Friday at his home in Henderson, Nevada, following a brief illness, according to a statement from his family and the University of New Haven, where he taught for more than 50 years. Lee rose to fame after his testimony in Simpson’s 1995 trial, in...

An Iranian missile attack on Friday left at least 10 US service members wounded and damaged several planes at a military base in Saudi Arabia, according to two US officials familiar with the situation. The attack on Prince Sultan Air Base damaged several US refuelling aircraft, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. One of the officials said two of the troops were seriously wounded. Satellite imagery that appeared to show the damage to the...

Amid turmoil in the Middle East, including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil passes, Beijing is pressing ahead with its Zhuri (sun-chasing) project to build solar power stations in space. Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and senior rocket scientist Long Lehao likened this space-based solar power programme to putting the Three Gorges Dam into geostationary orbit, underscoring its extraordinary scale and ambition....

Tiger Woods was released on bail on Friday, hours after his Land Rover clipped a truck, rolled onto its side and the golfer was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, officials said. Christine Weiss, a spokeswoman for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, said Woods, who was not injured in the crash, was released late on Friday. Florida law required that he spend at least eight hours in jail before he could post bail. Woods had been travelling at “high speeds” on a residential road...

China denied on Friday that it had intensified inspections of Panama-flagged vessels in retaliation for Panama’s decision to strip a Hong Kong-based conglomerate of port concessions at both ends of the Panama Canal, accusing Washington of seeking to seize control of the strategic waterway. During the daily press briefing at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, spokesman Lin Jian charged that the US had made “repeated wrongful allegations” about the inspections that exposed...

The astronaut who prompted Nasa’s first medical evacuation earlier this year said on Friday that doctors still do not know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station. Four-time space flier Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner on January 7 after prepping for a spacewalk the next day when it happened. He could not talk and remembers no pain, but his anxious crewmates jumped into action after seeing him in distress and requested help from flight surgeons on the ground. “It was...

Two aid boats bound for Cuba that were feared missing after they set sail from Mexico have “safely transited” to the island, the US coastguard said on Friday. The Mexican Navy had reported on Thursday that it launched a search and rescue mission after losing communication with the vessels, which had left from Isla Mujeres in southeast Mexico on March 20 with nine people aboard. The US coastguard, which was not involved in the search efforts, said on Friday it had received a report at 10.36am...

A pro-Iranian hacking group claimed Friday to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and has posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work résumé and other personal documents. Many of those records appeared to be more than a decade old. “Kash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name displayed with pride on the agency’s headquarters, will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” said a message posted on Friday...

Vladimir Putin is expected to visit China soon after Donald Trump’s trip in May in a diplomatic double-header that would be the first time Beijing has hosted the leaders of the US and Russia in the same month outside a multilateral event. According to Chinese analysts, the back-to-back visits highlight Beijing’s strategic effort to manage relations with both major powers amid rising global turbulence. Trump’s long-planned trip to Beijing was expected to take place from May 14 to 15, the White...

China’s market regulator has told companies including electric vehicle maker BYD and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) to compete healthily when expanding overseas, amid mounting accusations of unfair competition, subsidies and dumping levelled at Chinese companies in global markets. Chinese firms should standardise their competitive behaviour and “build a healthy competition ecosystem” in their overseas expansion, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in an...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Group of Seven counterparts traded barbs over the wars in Iran and Ukraine, casting doubt on Europe bowing to Donald Trump’s demand for military help in the Gulf. “The United States is constantly being asked to help in a war,” Rubio said referring to Ukraine, before taking off for the Friday conclusion of a G7 gathering outside Paris. “But when the US had a need, he didn’t get positive responses,” he added. The Europeans have rebuffed Trump’s bid for...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports “belonging to allies and supporters of the Zionist-American enemies”. “This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities … were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said on their...

Beyond oil, the Middle East conflict is fuelling fears of a shortage of helium – a by-product of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production that is critical for semiconductors, aerospace applications and high-end medical equipment. The medical sector is on alert, as magnetic resonance imaging machines depend on liquid helium to cool their superconducting magnets, and a supply crunch could jeopardise diagnostic services. A warning from Marc Johnson, a virologist and professor at the University of...

The deadly bombing of an Iranian school spurred “visceral horror”, the UN rights chief said Friday, urging Washington to conclude its investigation and demanding justice “for the terrible harm done”. Speaking at the start of an urgent debate in the UN Human Rights Council focused on the February 28 strike on an Iranian junior school in Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Volker Turk said that “whatever differences countries have, we can all agree they will not be solved by...

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz, though there have been no signs of Iran backing down. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually...

In these turbulent times, focusing on the World Trade Organization’s 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, is a bit like trying to focus on a picnic sitting alongside a bar brawl, or listening to a lesson in pruning bonsai while a lumberjack takes a chainsaw to a giant redwood. But try we must. Even if the deliverables are meagre and may take years to materialise, the symbolism of Yaounde points to a possible future very different from today’s chaotic hegemonic unilateralism –...

After eight years in the deep freeze, the European Parliament is sending an official delegation to China next week in the clearest sign yet that Beijing’s targeted lobbying blitz of its members is paying off. Seven members from the parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) will travel to Beijing and Shanghai alongside Engin Eroglu, head of its China delegation. They will meet officials, customs and port authorities, lawmakers and companies, including Shein and...

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. What if US ground forces march into Iran? Chinese experts weigh the risks Potential US ground operations against Iran might constrain Tehran, but the prospects for reopening the Strait of Hormuz were “highly uncertain”, Chinese...

Almost four weeks of unrelenting US and Israeli air strikes have severely weakened Tehran’s military, but what remains of its vast missile arsenal was being used more efficiently from hard-to-reach bases in eastern Iran. In the latest example, strikes last weekend against Israel injured more than 100. Targets included the city of Dimona, home to the country’s main nuclear research facility, and most likely involved Khorramshahr missiles, which have among the longest ranges and heaviest payloads...

The Mexican navy said on Thursday that it was searching for two boats transporting humanitarian aid for Cuba with nine crew of different nationalities on board. The vessels set sail last Friday from Isla Mujeres in Mexico’s southeastern state of Quintana Roo and were due to arrive in Havana on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, the navy said in a statement. It said that there had been neither “communication nor confirmation of their arrival” in Cuba and that it has alerted naval commanders in the...

Amid uncertainty over the timing of a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the world is watching closely to see where the two largest economies are leading us. At a time of cascading crises like wars, regional tensions and economic uncertainty, the relationship between Washington and Beijing has become one of the most important variables for global stability. And yet, for all the analysis of military budgets, trade deficits and geopolitical competition, one...

A British police force said on Thursday it would reopen a probe into rape and sexual assault allegations made by women against self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate between 2014 and 2015. It is the latest in a slew of investigations into Tate, a British-US citizen who promotes his divisive views to millions of followers on social media. “Hertfordshire Constabulary can confirm that a decision has been made to reinvestigate allegations made by women between 2014 and 2015 relating to...

The US Treasury Department plans to put US President Donald Trump’s signature on all new US paper currency, the agency announced on Thursday. The move would be a first for a sitting president, since traditionally, US paper currency carries the signatures of the Treasury secretary and the treasurer, not the president. The news was first reported by Vanity Fair. It was the latest instance of Trump putting his name and likeness on American cultural institutions, following his renaming of the US...

US President Donald Trump said he would sign an order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers in a bid to alleviate disruptions at US airports with lawmakers in Congress deadlocked on how to end a partial government shutdown. “I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullen, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump declared in a social...

The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a close call between a United Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in California, the agency said on Thursday, in the latest incident between a passenger jet and a military aircraft. The FAA said ‌a United Boeing 737-800 jet on Tuesday at 8.40pm was on final approach to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California when a Black Hawk crossed in front of the plane. Flightradar24, a flight tracking site, said the aircraft were 160...

US President Donald Trump denied on Thursday that he was desperate for a deal with Iran, swinging between threats and diplomacy, while presenting a series of “boats of oil” that reportedly made it through the blocked Strait of Hormuz as an Iranian “gift” – a reveal that he teased a day earlier. This comes as the war he and Israel launched against Iran approaches the one-month mark with little end in sight, driving oil prices up globally and further unsettling the global economy. “I read a story...

Beijing is probably sighing with relief following US President Donald Trump’s postponement of his visit to China for “a month or so”. Initially, Trump had tried to threaten China for not joining a proposed naval escort campaign in the Strait of Hormuz, but quickly changed his tone after recognising the absurdity of such a demand. Not even the United States’ closest allies are willing to lend a hand. However, Beijing is even more frustrated with Washington’s lack of clarity and Trump’s hazy...

A 25-year-old woman who has been paraplegic since a failed suicide attempt underwent euthanasia in Spain on Thursday, after her father lost a lengthy legal battle to stop the procedure, Spanish media reported. Her case was the first to reach a Spanish court for consideration since Spain became one of the few countries to legalise euthanasia in 2021, a law fiercely opposed by the Catholic Church. The woman, identified as Noelia, died shortly after 6pm at a hospital in Sant Pere de Ribes in the...

A man who fled to China and his sister have been charged after an explosive device was left outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this month. Their mother was detained for deportation, having overstayed her visa, a federal prosecutor said on Thursday. Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Mary Zheng, 27, were charged Wednesday in separate federal indictments. The sister was arrested upon her return from China, where she flew with her brother after the threat. Both have US citizenship, US Attorney...

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro cut a relaxed figure Thursday as he returned to a federal court in New York for his second appearance since his capture by US forces in an extraordinary nighttime raid. During the one-hour hearing, the judge indicated he would not dismiss the case over Maduro and his wife’s apparent inability to afford their legal bill without aid from the Venezuelan government. The former leader, 63, and wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost...

China warned Mexico on Thursday it could impose retaliatory measures after concluding a formal investigation into tariffs Mexico imposed on more than 1,400 categories of Asian goods, in a dispute that threatens to complicate Mexico City’s parallel negotiations to renew its trade agreement with the United States. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said the tariffs, which range from 5 to 50 per cent on 1,463 product categories in force since January 1, restrict the entry of Chinese goods,...

Scientists have used a tiny plastic “obstacle course” to test how much sperm would struggle to navigate during sex in the weightlessness of space. Some particularly resilient sperm still made it through the course, suggesting that conceiving children in space will still be possible, according to research published on Thursday. However, a bigger problem could be that the development of embryos after fertilisation was harmed by a lack of gravity, the Australian team of researchers found. With...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday it was reintroducing testing for gender to determine eligibility to compete in the female category, preventing transgender women from competing. The screening will mean Olympic women’s sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Games will be limited to biological females, which would also rule out those with differences in sexual development (DSD) from competing. The IOC is abandoning rules it brought in in 2021 which allowed individual federations...

Britain’s decision to block a £1.5 billion (US$2 billion) plan by Chinese clean energy giant Mingyang to build the UK’s largest wind turbine factory in Scotland highlights the mounting challenges of doing business with China in an era of deepening global mistrust, analysts said. The move was likely the result of direct pressure from Washington, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The US-Israeli war in Iran and the subsequent energy crisis had raised hopes for the project to be...

The Iran war’s oil shock has dramatically increased the security risk for oil-dependent countries, incentivising a turn towards renewable energy. This impact will outlast the war and oil price spikes because the world knows this war will recur. China will be the biggest beneficiary and its exports are likely to do very well this year, offsetting losses from buying higher-priced oil. A fifth of the global supply of oil and liquefied natural gas plus a third of seaborne fertilisers traditionally...

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has close ties with both US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, fears US-led Ukraine peace talks may be over, he said in an interview published on Thursday. “It may be due to the war in Iran, which is drawing a lot of attention away from the war in Ukraine. But it may also be that the negotiations have come to a halt because they’ve reached the end of the road and are not making any further progress,” Stubb said in the...

US President Donald Trump said he would visit China from May 14 to May 15, including a meeting with President Xi Jinping, after delaying the trip by about six weeks because of the war on Iran. The new schedule is a day shorter than the original three-day visit that was due to start on March 31. China didn’t join the White House in announcing the trip. It rarely makes statements about planned visits more than a few days ahead of the arrival date. “I look very much forward to spending time with...

For the second year in a row, Asia’s vulnerability to global shocks is a source of concern. Almost exactly a year since US President Donald Trump launched his assault on the global trading system, the external dependencies of leading Asian economies have once again dimmed the outlook for the region. Early last year, analysts were worried about Asia’s heavy reliance on exports to the United States. Morgan Stanley pointed out that seven of the 10 countries running the largest trade surpluses with...

Even as Donald Trump pushes for talks to end the war against Iran, the US has ordered thousands of troops to the region, fuelling fears that the American president is gearing up for exactly the sort of risky ground invasion that he once campaigned against. Trump on Thursday warned Iran to “get serious soon” in talks to end the war, as he once again criticised Nato allies for not joining in the conflict. Trump insisted Iran was actively talking with the United States on a deal to end the nearly...

Organizers want this to be largest protest yet. But is hitting a number enough to deliver an effective political movement?

Thousands of demonstrations against the Trump administration are scheduled to take place in cities and towns across the country and the world on Saturday.

Kaela Berg is part of a crop of working-class candidates that Democrats hope can help the party win back blue-collar voters.

Historically, quagmire abroad and high prices at home are the ingredients of a failed presidency.

When you’re a wannabe king they let you do it.

“Love Story” wasn’t really about John Kennedy or Carolyn Bessette.

In at least five cases, customers sought medical attention to remove bristles “from their digestive tract or throat,” a federal agency said.

A visionary evolutionary biologist, he drew comparisons to Charles Darwin with his theories on the genetic roots of seemingly detrimental behaviors like self-deception.