Minimalist News

Rebound In Used Luxury Watches Continues During the COVID-era flood of free money, from stimulus checks to the Federal Reserve's zero-interest-rate policy, luxury watch prices skyrocketed to the moon. But once that liquidity boom faded and interest rates were pushed sharply higher to rein in the inflation monster fueled by helicopter money, the secondary luxury market slid into a multi-year correction. Over the last year and a half, however, that downturn appears to have bottomed out (see here and here ) , with prices continuing to rebound. The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most-traded watches

Virginia School District Sued Over Concealing Student 'Gender Transitions' From Parents Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness , A federal lawsuit was filed against Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) on behalf of an FCPS parent, alleging that the school district's "gender transition" policy violates parents' constitutional rights. Fox News reports that the lawsuit, filed by America First Legal (AFL), alleges that Fairfax County Public Schools' Regulation 2603.3 "directs school staff to support and facilitate a student's social 'gender transition' at school without notifying parents or obtaining their consent." According to AFL, FCPS does not make parents aware of students

Trump-Backed Colombian President-Elect Gives Guerrillas "One Month To Surrender" As Socialist Era Ends Colombia's president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella gave drug cartels and guerrilla groups one month to surrender, marking a massive U-turn from the soft-on-crime policies of the socialist regime under incumbent President Gustavo Petro. "To all those acting outside the law, you have one month to arrange your submission ," Trump-Backed Espriella said in his first speech since official results confirmed his electoral win on Sunday. Colombia's President-Elect Abelardo de la Espriella: To those who are outside the law, I have a categorical message: You have one month

How To Push Back Against The 'Advancing Beast' System Authored by Leo Hohmann via substack, The big-picture lesson from the Covid era should have been obvious. It should have screamed loud and clear to every freedom-loving American: The power elites who run things at the local, state and federal levels want to tag and track our movement, but not just our movement. They want to track our diet, our healthcare, our purchasing habits, our use of energy, our online comment history, our very thoughts. They want all of it. And if they get their way, you will own nothing. Literally

Debt Tsunami: The Alan Greenspan Legacy Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, Alan Greenspan, Fed chair from 1987 to 2006, embodies a striking ideological shift from gold-standard advocate to architect of the modern easy-money, debt-fueled financial system. He has now died at the age of 100, and this marks a good time to assess his legacy and explain why it matters. In the 1960s, as a young economist influenced by Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Greenspan strongly supported the gold standard . In his 1966 essay “Gold and Economic Freedom,” he argued that gold-backed money was essential for laissez-faire

Culture Of Grievance Authored by George Brooks via AmericanThinker.com, Every civilization develops a moral language - a set of virtues that it celebrates and vices that it condemns. For much of human history, societies lauded courage, resilience, self-sacrifice, duty, honor, and perseverance. The individual who overcame adversity was admired. The citizen who contributed more than he consumed was esteemed. To endure hardship without surrendering one’s dignity was considered noble. Increasingly, however, modern Western society appears to have inverted this hierarchy. Today, victimhood often functions as a form of social capital. To claim injury is to acquire moral authority. To assert

America's Data-Center Revolt Goes Local - And Bipartisan - As Towns Slam The Brakes The pitchforks are out over the AI buildout - as drama unfolds in county commission chambers, where the people who will actually live next to the substations and cooling plants are starting to win. Saline, Michigan, December 1, 2025. Rural Michigan residents rally against the $7 billion Stargate data center planned on southeast Michigan farm land. (Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Over the last week, local governments in at least three states have independently moved to pause hyperscale data center development -

Katz Says US Hasn't Asked Israel To Withdraw From Lebanon - Wouldn't Do It Anyway Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the US hasn't asked Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon despite Iran maintaining that a withdrawal is necessary to implement the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding , which calls for an end to Israel's war. "We have announced that in any case we are not withdrawing and, as of this moment – and this is a diplomatic achievement – there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from

Small Plane Hits Beijing's Tallest Tower; Was Someone Sending China A Message? A serious airspace breach occurred in Beijing's Central Business District earlier Friday, when a Sunward SA60L Aurora light aircraft crashed into the 1,700-foot-tall CITIC Tower. The incident is a major wake-up call for Beijing's airspace defenses, not only in the financial district but also around CITIC Group, one of China's major state-owned financial and investment conglomerates. The crash has already sparked speculation among some observers that there may be a lot more to the story . A single-engine Sunward SA-60L Aurora aircraft with registration B-12PP, flown by a

US Strikes Iran In Retaliation To Hormuz Ship Attack Update (5:00pm ET): As was expected, the US retaliated against Iran one day after Tehran struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a tit-for-tat exchange similar to one observed a week ago, and one which threatened to break the two countries’ fragile ceasefire although we doubt there will be further escalation. US Central Command said that American aircraft on Friday hit Iranian missile and drone storage sites as well as coastal radar installations, reportedly on Sirik Island located near the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “powerful response to

DOJ Finds USDA Preferences For 'Socially Disadvantaged' Farmers Discriminatory Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, The Department of Justice (DOJ) has concluded that the U.S. Agriculture Department’s (USDA) favors for “socially disadvantaged” groups unconstitutionally discriminate based on race and sex. Just the News reports that the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has determined conservation‑planning programs that authorized USDA to waive user fees for “socially disadvantaged” farmers as defined by race‑ and sex‑based criteria, violated the Constitution’s equal-protection guarantee. 🔥Hot off the presses: @TheJusticeDept explains that the @USDA cannot give benefits only to certain "socially disadvantaged" groups. But there's more

FIFA Folds, Allows Rainbow Flags To Fly In Seattle Stadium Despite Objections From Iran, Eqypt Rainbow flags will be allowed inside the stadium in Seattle, where the FIFA World Cup group game between Iran and Egypt is being held on June 26, despite both countries objecting to the standards associated with the LGBT community. Both countries are predominantly Muslim, and homosexuality is illegal in Iran and criminalized in Egypt, but Hana Tadesse, a spokesperson for Seattle’s World Cup organizing committee, said on June 24 that FIFA considers the rainbow flag a statement of human rights and will allow fans to

The Party Of Algae And 'Our Democracy' Authored by James Howard Kunstler, “. . .a political party doesn’t lose 95 percent of a registration advantage because voters are kinda annoyed. Something much, much deeper is going on.” - Richard Landwirth Okay, convince me that gay-Islamic-race-communism is a “progressive” political program America is going to buy like corn flakes. The Lefty-left wants to think so, as it lurches from one peak of mental illness to an even greater one in the 130 days to the midterms. Look how successful they’ve been with open borders, defunding the police, men in the girl’s

Tanker Rates Nearly Halve As Hormuz Shipping Normalizes The recent spike in the cost to hire a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude from Saudi Arabia to China is now being sharply reversed, as more shippers send vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and normalization trends continue to improve. Bloomberg reports that tanker rates for the Saudi Arabia-to-China route tumbled to about $287K on Friday, down 44% from more than $514K on Tuesday. That data came from the Baltic Exchange. Rates remain elevated and still highly profitable for owners, but the sharp drop late in the week suggests the

Michael Saylor Responds To Scrutiny As Strategy Shares & STRC Hit 52-Week Lows Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com, Michael Saylor responded to the deepening selloff in Strategy’s stock and preferred shares Friday with a statement on X. “Volatility tests every capital structure,” Saylor wrote . “Strategy remains focused on Bitcoin, disciplined capital allocation, credit quality, and long-term value creation. We appreciate our investors and will continue to execute with transparency and resolve . $MSTR”. The tweet landed as MSTR shares and STRC, Strategy’s variable-rate perpetual preferred, both hit 52-week lows. MSTR has shed more than 80% from its all-time

'Historic' Ceasefire Deal Reached By Israel & Lebanon, But Fine Print Confirms Fragile Reality Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the new agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon, hosted in Washington on Friday, as a major blow to Iran. He has said Israeli forces will remain in southern Lebanon so long as Hezbollah does not disarm: "I want to announce a great achievement for the State of Israel. The most important thing is that, first of all, Israel remains in the security zone in southern Lebanon . This is a great achievement, and we will maintain it as long

"Perfect Storm": Bond Traders "Stunned" At How Quickly SpaceX Bonds Are Selling Off Media reports earlier this week about SpaceX's inaugural post-IPO investment-grade bond (and we mean inaugural, as the company rushed to tap the corporate bond market just days after going public with a low-IG rating of Baa1/BBB) which priced on Tuesday, had it as almost 4x oversubscribed, at roughly $90BN in orders for the $25 billion offering (upsized from $20 billion), signaling relentless demand for the paper. Alas, it took just 48 hours for the myth of sterling demand to crash and burn, with Bloomberg reporting today that

Trump Jokes "I'd Be The Greatest Communist In History" As Democratic Elites Panic Over Socialist Hijack A series of high-profile Democrats and party strategists this week sounded the alarm that socialists have hijacked the Democratic Party, with radical left-wing revolutionaries increasingly gaining power not just in local elections across the country, but most notably in far-left-controlled New York City. Let's begin with President Trump's overnight comments on Truth Social, in which he told the anti-American, pro-globalist radical left: The Communists are finally making their move. I've been waiting and preparing for this for a long time . It's easy to

Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' To Permanently Close, Gov. DeSantis Says Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Florida permanently closed the temporary illegal immigrant holding center “Alligator Alcatraz” June 25 after transferring federal detainees to other facilities, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced. “Alligator Alcatraz now has zero detainees,” DeSantis told reporters at a press conference outside the facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades, about 50 miles west of Miami. “It has helped remove many, many dangerous people from the street and get them out not only the state of Florida but the United States of

American Benevolence During World Cup Erases Anti-American Propaganda Authored by Armando Simon via AmericanThinker.com, The World Cup, as everyone knows by now, has been taking place across several cities in stadiums that have surprised foreign visitors by being gigantic and air-conditioned. As usual, fans have been having a lot of fun. Many of the visitors have come to the United States for the first time. Social media has been filled with countless postings from visitors relating their experiences in this country. Overwhelmingly, they are blown away by the abundance of food, both in restaurants and in grocery stores, not just

Delcy Rodríguez says foreign rescue teams are arriving as anger grows at official response and limited resources Survivors tell of ‘brutal and fast’ Venezuela quake as hunt for survivors goes on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has vowed to fight to save “as many people as possible” as the official death toll from the country’s worst earthquake in more than a century almost doubled, but frustration was growing at the perceived sluggishness of the government’s response. Rodríguez’s brother, Jorge, the president of the national assembly, said on Friday that the official number of dead had risen to 920. Delcy Rodríguez

Various issues – including a rodent infestation and mould – have left the historic, sprawling Ottawa estate empty 10 Downing Street has two things: mice and a chief mouser . For more than a decade, an officially recognized feline has kept rodent infestation in the British prime minister’s residence to a minimum. Over a similar period, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister has seen an unchecked explosion of rodents. Continue reading...

Worst incident of its kind in country for more than 125 years leaves many searching for family members – and pleading for international help Venezuela death toll doubles as interim president vows to save ‘as many people as possible’ Nearly all of Ligia Level’s family lived in a trio of apartment blocks along Hotel Avenue, a seafront sweep of palm-specked resorts and high-rise condos along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. When a powerful “doublet” of earthquakes jolted the region on Wednesday afternoon, those buildings and the lives within them came crashing down. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here China’s president Xi Jinping said Beijing was ready to provide Venezuela with “disaster relief and reconstruction” assistance. Xi sent a message of condolence to Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez today, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Continue reading...

Experts worked in ocean midwater off Brazil at near-record speeds thanks to cutting-edge tech A marine biology expedition in international waters off the coast of Brazil has discovered 31 new species in just two weeks. The researchers believe the speed at which the species were found and identified may be a record, in part because of the cutting-edge technology designed and built by the science and engineering team. For the first time on board a ship, the researchers were able to observe the living 3D cellular structure of microbial life thanks to a technological breakthrough nicknamed the Squid. Continue reading...

The 46-year-old was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to board a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to police and local media Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Australian man has been arrested at a Thai airport in connection with the alleged murder of a 17-year-old girl whose naked body was found in a suitcase, according to local police. The man , 46, was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to travel on a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to local media. Continue reading...

Austrian Grand Prix declares heat hazard as dramatic rise in temperatures forecast in central and northern Europe Temperatures are forecast to rise dramatically in parts of central and northern Europe this weekend as the intense heatwave continues . In Germany and Poland, highs up to or exceeding 40C (104F) are expected on both Saturday and Sunday, days after swathes of France experienced similar extreme temperatures. The Austrian Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Spielberg, has declared a heat hazard , the first race to do so this season. Temperatures are expected to rise into the low 30s celsius during

All branches of the military will be taught how to use technology that has become a ‘game changer on the battlefield’, says defence minister All of South Korea’s military forces will be trained as drone operators in a sweeping overhaul of its warfare strategy, the defence minister has said. “All soldiers should be able to use drones like a second personal firearm,” Ahn Gyu-back, who heads the defence ministry in Seoul, said on Friday. Continue reading...

China’s leader wants to promote his alternative to the current world order, and his efforts are being assisted by a capricious US Xi Jinping meets Bangladesh’s new prime minister on Friday, the latest in a wave of world leaders to visit Beijing this year as the Chinese leader builds his influence and economic ties, and seeks to “shift the balance of power” away from the west. Xi’s meeting with Tarique Rahman comes less than two weeks after the Chinese leader welcomed Myanmar’s military chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, in Beijing. Continue reading...

Kennedy repeatedly said 2019 Samoa trip had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’. An email from his then colleague says they were on a vaccine-related ‘mission’ New evidence has emerged that Robert F Kennedy Jr was on a vaccine-related “mission” when he visited Samoa ahead of a deadly measles outbreak in 2019, raising further questions about whether the US health secretary lied to the US Senate when he said the trip had “nothing to do with vaccines”. Records obtained by the Guardian show Kennedy’s colleague told Samoan officials in an email that he and Kennedy were coming as part of a

As a host of countries move to rein in social media use by children, could this be technology’s big tobacco moment? Continue reading...

Fire and Rescue NSW uses thermal imaging and a mobile phone red light to quickly locate men who veered off walking track near Jindabyne Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two hikers who veered off a walking track in Kosciuszko national park have been found within five hours using a drone powered by artificial intelligence, a first-of-its-kind mission, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has said. The two men, aged in their 20s, were reported missing at 7pm on Tuesday evening after they failed to return to a rendezvous point on time. Continue reading...

While Anthony Albanese calls ousted British PM Keir Starmer his mate, the pair share very different political fortunes Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese channelled Paul Keating as he spoke to government MPs in Canberra this week, reflecting on the tough work of reform. Keating, Albanese said, considered Labor to be a bit like a bicycle. “It only stands up when you pedal,” the party grandee once warned, suggesting that without ideas, direction or momentum, the whole show falls over. Continue reading...

The LNP’s unapologetic moves on Indigenous issues, crime, transgender healthcare and police-led suppression of protests are a throwback to days many thought had come and gone Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A sign stopped Aunty Sandra King in her tracks. The elder of the Yagara, Quandamooka and Bundjalung people, now in her 70s, spoke at a protest last month against plans to build an Olympic stadium in the heart of Brisbane’s Victoria Park. In the crowd a man held aloft a homemade placard with the words “I Preferred Joh”. Continue reading...

Minns government waited on federal approval of carbon credit scheme before proceeding with long-awaited great koala national park Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A long-promised New South Wales great koala national park is set to go ahead after the Albanese government greenlit the state to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for protecting native forests previously earmarked for logging. The assistant climate change minister, Josh Wilson, said the government had approved a regulatory change that allowed state governments to earn carbon credits by storing

Forecasters say hottest conditions spreading into central and eastern Europe While it will be a lot less hot in the UK, there is still an amber warning for extreme heat over parts of East Anglia and south-east England today. The Met Office has forecast today’s temperatures as follows: Aberdeen 22C Belfast 21C Birmingham 28C Cardiff 27C Glasgow 22C Liverpool 28C London 32C Newcastle 27C Plymouth 23C Sheffield 28C Continue reading...

Activists aim to repeat disruption of Jeff Bezos’s wedding when billionaire Tilman Fertitta drops anchor Protesters in Venice are planning to disrupt a visit by the billionaire US ambassador to Italy in his 117-metre superyacht, which they fear he plans to dock in the lagoon city. “We ruined the party for Jeff Bezos’s wedding last year – this year let’s ruin the ambassador’s tour!” said Stella Faye, a 28-year-old researcher and activist, at a meeting of about 40 demonstrators on Thursday. Continue reading...

Accumulation on Switzerland’s glaciers from last winter expected to all be gone by Monday amid ‘enormous’ melt rates across Alps Europe heatwave: latest updates Swiss glaciers are set to lose an enormous amount of ice due to the heatwave battering Europe, according to the head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos). The snow and ice accumulated last winter by Switzerland’s glaciers is expected to have all melted away by Monday, marking the alarming second-earliest arrival on record of the tipping point known as glacier loss day. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here: UK June heat record broken for third day in a row Fourth child dies in France as brutal heatwave forecast to shift east Over in the UK, firefighters are still trying to bring a large wildfire in Derbyshire under control. The blaze, which has burned over 500 square metres of moorland and woodland on Tintwistle Moor, near Glossop, broke out on Wednesday evening, with fire crews from Manchester and Derbyshire deploying a water-dropping helicopter and six fire engines on Thursday. Continue reading...

Scientists say hot spell is worst ever, with nearly half of region’s 850 largest cities facing unprecedented heat stress Europe heatwave: latest updates The number of deaths in France linked to the heatwave has climbed to four toddlers and more than 55 drownings, as the brutally hot conditions sweeping Europe were forecast to shift east, choking 150 million people under 35C (95F) temperatures. Scientists said the heatwave was the most severe and widespread ever, leaving nearly half of the region’s 850 largest cities grappling with unprecedented heat stress. They said the extreme temperatures had been made possible by the climate

Arabic’s rich history of poetry lends itself well to ‘beautiful commentary that … sounds like a love letter to football’ Even before Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range shot had hit the back of net, the commentator had begun shouting. “Allllllllaaaaaaah!!!!” exclaimed Amer al-Khudhiri, an Omani football announcer for BeIN Sports, as the Portugal star scored his first goal of the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan on Tuesday. He took a deep breath and then began his soliloquy. “I knew you were coming for revenge. I knew you would answer everyone, the world, the World Cup, the doubters, those who have lost their

Strikes against military facilities were in response to drone attack a day earlier on a cargo vessel The US has struck Iran in a tit-for-tat response to a drone strike on a cargo ship, as the ceasefire between the US and Iran that reopened the strait of Hormuz undergoes its greatest test yet. The US strikes targeted multiple missile and drone facilities in Iran near the strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island on Friday in what appeared to be a limited strike meant to respond to Iran’s attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship without escalating the conflict. Continue reading...

US president calls it ‘foolish violation’ of ceasefire agreement after drone damaged ship’s upper deck US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump on Friday blamed Iran for carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the US. One drone damaged the upper deck of the ship but the ship was able to proceed, the US president said. The US shot down three other drones aimed at the ship, he said. Continue reading...

International Maritime Organization says safety guarantees must be confirmed before ships can move again A United Nations agency has paused the evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN. The head of the UN’s International Maritime Organization said on Thursday that the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait would be on hold until the agency could confirm safety guarantees for the ships

Blocking of proposal backed by Oman signals new threat to free passage through strait vital to world economy Iran has rejected UN-backed plans for the mass evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz, creating a new threat to the free passage of commercial ships through the strait. The proposal, backed by Oman, was potentially the first phase of a broader Omani proposal to consult on setting up a new management of the strait based on voluntary fees and modelled on the Malacca and Singapore strait mechanism. Continue reading...

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

Husband arrested after Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and five children found at home in north-western province Pakistan police say they have rescued a French woman and her five children after she told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and subjected to years of domestic abuse in the country’s north-west. The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued earlier this week from a mud-brick home in Bara, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, the district police chief, Waqar Ahmad, said. Continue reading...

Rights campaigners and MEPs say meeting would normalise regime that erases women from public life Rights campaigners and MEPs have warned that a meeting between EU officials and a Taliban delegation in Brussels risks normalising a regime that has banned girls from school beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women from public life, while its ranks include two leaders accused of crimes against humanity. A spokesperson for the Afghan foreign ministry confirmed that a delegation representing the ⁠Taliban had travelled to Brussels after the Belgian foreign ministry issued five single-day visas. Continue reading...

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibition The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits “high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff” from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’ Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax. Continue reading...

Relocation of Action on World Health raises questions over why Reform UK leader is involved in a US pressure group Nigel Farage’s campaign against the World Health Organization (WHO) is moving to the US with a new board of lobbyists, raising questions over why the Reform UK leader is involved in an American pressure group. The Action on World Health campaign, co-founded by Farage, is relocating to the US state of Delaware as a charitable foundation and grassroots non-profit. Continue reading...

Staff at Radio 4 show, which has 5 million listeners, told making content for likes of TikTok will take precedence for correspondents The task of briefing the nation on Radio 4’s agenda-setting Today programme has been one of the most urgent tasks facing the BBC’s top journalists for decades. Insiders at the corporation, however, say that duty has effectively been downgraded, after an edict that will result in correspondents prioritising making content for TikTok, Instagram and other digital platforms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices Screen time for babies and toddlers under the age of two has been linked with long-term negative effects on health and quality of life and should be avoided, according to a landmark study . It warns that using screens during that period may lead to wide-ranging developmental concerns and calls for further urgent investigation of the risks smartphones, tablets and other digital devices pose to infants. Continue reading...

Hotels report increase in last-minute bookings, including from families attempting to escape hot homes Europe heatwave: latest updates Families, including parents with newborn babies, are booking air-conditioned rooms in hotels to escape the UK heatwave, with companies reporting a surge in demand. Data from the accommodation reservation website Booking.com shows that since 1 June, the share of searches using the “air-conditioning” filter has tripled across Great Britain coinciding with the latest heatwave in northern Europe. Continue reading...

CPS urges victims to go to police, saying they will be taken seriously and it ‘won’t hesitate’ to bring abusers to justice Prosecutors in England and Wales are expecting incidents of domestic abuse to increase during the men’s World Cup, and have urged victims to come forward, saying those responsible “will be held accountable”. “We often see more domestic abuse cases around major football tournaments like these,” the CPS national stalking lead, Olivia Rose, said. “The point that we want to get across is that those responsible will be held accountable, and that we won’t hesitate to bring them to

Animal who went missing from private ranch for nearly two weeks had been falsely reported as found earlier in the week The search for a giraffe who absconded from a private game ranch in rural Texas and effectively went missing for nearly two weeks was found safe on Friday just a few miles away from the homestead, according to authorities. An aerial search ultimately pinpointed the whereabouts of Gracie “the w[a]ndering giraffe”, said Nathan Johnson, the Real county sheriff, in a Facebook post announcing the success of efforts to find the creature. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. US says it struck Iran targets after attack on cargo ship on the strait of Hormuz Sign up for the Breaking News US email Hayes went on: As national security adviser to the president of the United States, Mr Bolton had access to and was responsible for safeguarding the most sensitive national defense information, including classified material. Mr Bolton knew how to handle classified information, where it should be stored, how it should be stored, and with whom he could share that information. Continue reading...

Self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman already serving 50-year prison sentence over child sexual abuse A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona . Someone alerted authorities about the trailer in 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors. Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls inside, who were ages 11 to 14 at the time. The trailer was enclosed with a

California governor calls for national tax on super-wealthy and suggests the US should own a stake in AI companies US politics live – latest updates California’s governor, Gavin Newsom , called for a national “billionaires tax” on Friday as he fights a ballot measure targeting the ultra-wealthy in his home state. Newsom, who is expected to run for president in 2028, published his proposal the day after California officials certified a ballot measure to levy a one-time 5% tax on residents worth more than $1bn. The initiative, called the California Billionaire Tax Act, was brought by the Service Employees International

Governor also announced state of emergency and banned personal fireworks in state until after Fourth of July Salt Lake City’s National Weather Service declared a “particularly dangerous situation red flag warning”, the first in the service’s history, according to a social media post. “THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE … Wind gusts of 40-50+ mph, combined with hot temperatures and extremely dry air, could cause explosive wildfire growth. Any new fire that starts could spread rapidly and become difficult to control,” said Chase Thomason, a meteorologist for KUTV, Utah ’s CBS affiliate. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a rendering of a new limited-edition US passport to mark the country’s 250th anniversary of independence, featuring his stern-faced likeness. “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform featuring the passport mock-up. The image features a glowering Trump leaning on his desk and his signature, with the text of the Declaration of Independence in the background. It appears to be based on...

The Texas Board of Education on ⁠Friday approved mandated reading ⁠lists for children in public schools that include passages from the Bible – the latest effort by leaders there to infuse the education system with conservative and religious ideals. The Republican-dominated board, in a 9-5 vote with ‌one member absent and not voting, approved the reading lists for more than 5 million public school students beginning in 2030. Texas had already mandated that the Bible’s Ten Commandments be...

My four-year-old son has become fascinated with his new friend, who has endless patience and an answer for everything. She is an artificial intelligence assistant on Doubao, one of China’s most popular AI applications. My son, obsessed with space, black holes and galaxies, keeps asking Doubao for related videos. When the video is of low quality or inaccurate, I would stop it and explain it may not be reliable. Despite my concerns about AI-generated information, I let him interact with AI within...

Burkina Faso’s ruling junta on Friday severed diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France, accusing Paris of persistently acting against its interests. The military regime led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, in power since a coup in September 2022, is pursuing a policy repressive towards critical voices and hostile to Westerners, particularly France. “The government of Burkina Faso hereby informs the national and international community that it has decided to sever diplomatic relations with...

Billionaire investor Leon Black said on Friday that Jeffrey Epstein deceived him during a years-long relationship in which he paid the disgraced financier US$158 million, but insisted he committed no criminal wrongdoing as he appeared before the House Oversight Committee. Black is the 16th person to appear before the committee as part of their broader investigation into the web of wealth and influence around Epstein. Before entering the closed-door deposition, congressman James Comer, the House...

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 per cent tax on imports from any country that imposed a tax on digital services from American companies. In a post on social media, Trump took aim at European countries that he said were discussing “imminent” implementation of taxes on US companies. The president has repeatedly sought to use tariffs as a way to deter such taxes, but many countries are looking for revenues as their economies increasingly operate in digital realms that are...

The US struck Iran on Friday in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a provocation President Donald Trump said violated the ceasefire between the two countries. US Central Command said the military struck missile and drone sites, as well as coastal radar locations in Iran, shortly after Trump hinted at retaliation when asked whether Tehran would face consequences. “We’ll find out,” Trump told reporters. Asked whether he still considered the ceasefire...

A German court on Friday jailed for life a Saudi psychiatrist who killed six people and wounded more than 300 when he drove a rented SUV through a crowded Christmas market in 2024. Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, 51 – an anti-Islam activist and adherent to right-wing conspiracy theories – listened to the verdict from inside a bulletproof glass box, his hands shackled. He was convicted of six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder by the court in the eastern city of Magdeburg. Judges...

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to illegally retaining classified information, sealing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow him to avoid a prison term. Bolton, who became an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump after serving in the Republican’s first administration, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28 by US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Greenbelt, Maryland. Bolton, 77, pleaded guilty to a single count of...

The official death toll from twin earthquakes that flattened parts ‌of Caracas and surrounding areas rose to 920, the authorities said on Friday. The government has estimated hundreds of people still trapped and missing nearly two days after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors struck about 160⁠km (100 miles) west of Caracas. International search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries are being scrambled to Venezuela to help look for survivors of Wednesday’s devastating twin earthquakes, the...

Leaders of the G7 rich nations might have gone into this month’s summit in France hoping for a united front against China. But, overshadowed by the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine and alienated by a mercurial US President Donald Trump, the lacklustre gathering came up short. There was no public agreement on how to address the so-called China shock 2.0, the supposed overcapacity issues and currency manipulation that is considered to be the cause of Chinese exports flooding into Europe. Instead of...

A deadly European heatwave that has saturated hospitals as temperatures soared to record highs was shifting east on Friday, with authorities warning of more misery on a continent not used to stretches of punishing heat. At least 101 million Europeans have roasted for several days in temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius, with an estimated few hundred people, including children, thought to have died as a result, many drowning as they sought respite from the inferno. Scientists said in a study...

Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. The authorities in Crimea on Friday declared an “emergency situation” in a bid to ease the fallout from increasing aerial attacks on the illegally annexed peninsula. “A decision has been made … to sign decrees declaring a regional-level emergency situation in the Republic of...

Who would have imagined that just over 100 days could so change the world? The US-Israeli “war of choice” on Iran has fundamentally – perhaps, permanently – shifted the global balances of economic, military and political power, and not in America’s favour. Mix the direct impact of this gratuitous military conflict with the broader effects on global security, efforts to mitigate climate change, contain soaring public debt and “de-risk” after America’s unilateral efforts to unravel globally agreed...

Former Israeli defence chief Gadi Eisenkot is emerging as the main rival to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, months ahead of the nation’s parliamentary elections. Eisenkot’s new centrist party, Yashar! (Hebrew for “Straight!”), has rapidly been gaining popularity in opinion polls. It is currently second behind Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud. Israelis must elect a new parliament by October 27 at the latest, although the vote was most likely to be held on October 20. Opinion polls...

Iran and the United States may have entered a temporary ceasefire, but uncertainty over the agreement continues to cast a shadow over the operations of Chinese businesses across the Gulf region. While the deal has raised hopes that business activity could gradually resume, many traders and investors remain reluctant to make long-term commitments. For Abbas Shi, a Chinese businessman who has been helping connect Chinese companies with Iranian partners since 2024, the immediate priority is...

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. A crisis ‘defused’ as blockade lifted, assets to be returned to Iran after Swiss talks Statements from the US and Iran following talks in Switzerland have cooled tensions that nearly derailed the peace process, signalling an intention...

A New York City housing board voted on Thursday to freeze the rents for about one million regulated flats for up to two years, fulfilling a central campaign promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani only months into his term. The 7-1 vote by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board set increases at zero on both one-year and two-year leases from October. Hundreds ‌of tenants who crowded into a Manhattan museum auditorium cheered and blew whistles at the result. “This is a historic victory for New York City...

“Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, published the sayings of Confucius in his colonial newspaper and today’s sculpture recognising that ancient Chinese age is carved into the face of the United States Supreme Court very proudly,” said US President Donald Trump in Beijing last month. It took two-and-a-half centuries for an American president to explicitly acknowledge the profound Chinese impact on the US founding fathers. Trump’s recent declaration could be a historical first. Unless archival...

The US Supreme Court on Thursday backed a Trump administration move to strip deportation protections from some 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the United States. The 6-3 ruling by the conservative-dominated court could have implications for more than one million beneficiaries of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from more than a dozen countries. Justice Samuel Alito, whose majority opinion was joined by the five other conservative justices, said the Department of Homeland...

Venezuela has received offers of rescue teams and humanitarian aid from across the Americas, including from right-wing governments that had broken off diplomatic relations with Caracas less than two years ago, in the wake of this week’s deadly twin earthquakes. The quakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and 39 seconds apart, struck the north of the country on Wednesday evening and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez declared a nationwide state...

King Charles will not live at Buckingham ⁠Palace after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, royal officials said on Thursday, ending nearly two centuries of the central London landmark serving as the British monarch’s primary residence. Officials at the same time disclosed the king paid £12.9 million (US$17.04 million) in tax in 2024/25 – the first time the figure has been made public – placing him among Britain’s ‌top 100 taxpayers. Members of the royal family have promised greater...

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Khushboo Razdan separates the signals from the noise in the US debate over drones. Whether responding to a wildfire or searching for a missing person, Battalion Chief William Marsiglio of Chesterfield, Virginia, relies on one tool...

The European Union is offering Brazil a “more beneficial” partnership on critical minerals than the United States or China, the bloc’s international partnerships commissioner said on Thursday, promising investment in domestic refining and technology as Brussels works to cut its dependence on Chinese supply chains. European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela made the case during a week-long visit to Brazil that included a stop on Saturday at a rare earth research and...

Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings on Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed at least 235 people and left some 4,300 injured. The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing from the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening – among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and felt throughout the region. The previous reported...

The controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention centre – a costly Florida facility that became a symbol of US President Donald Trump’s deportation drive – has shut down after less than a year in operation, officials said Thursday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, appearing at the remote Everglades site with White House border tsar Tom Homan, said the facility no longer held any detainees and had fulfilled the emergency role it was built to serve. The facility drew fierce criticism...

A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a US$16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service said. The US Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a...

The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) paused its operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after a vessel reported an attack, reigniting concerns about whether a preliminary deal to end the Iran war will hold. Nevertheless, at least four tankers including three huge crude carriers, which can each carry up to two million barrels of oil, entered the Gulf to load up, ship tracking data from LSEG and MarineTraffic showed on Friday. Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine said...

Harvey Weinstein avoided a fourth trial on a New York rape charge after his accuser said she could not endure testifying again, leading prosecutors to drop the #MeToo-era case on Thursday. The film mogul still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries. The judge formally dismissed the charge on Thursday. Weinstein had a...

The United States is mounting a large-scale humanitarian operation in Venezuela after twin earthquakes devastated the South American country, putting to the test Washington’s role as the most influential international partner in the country’s post-Maduro transition. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was deploying search-and-rescue teams, military logistics and humanitarian help after Wednesday’s magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which have killed at least 235 people and injured...

US consumer spending accelerated in May even as prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, suggesting Americans are powering through the fallout from the Iran war. The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 4.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, the most since April 2023, Bureau of Economic Analysis data out on Thursday showed. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending rose 0.3 per cent from a...

EU governments’ ministers gathered for a long day’s discussion of climate change policies on Thursday were surprised by a fresh-faced participant at their negotiating table: a three-month-old baby. Swedish Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari brought her son, Adam, to the EU council meeting in Luxembourg, to ‌highlight the benefits of parental leave policies which do not force women to choose between work and family responsibilities. “I wanted to showcase being an example of not having to make...

A German doctor admitted to having killed 12 patients nearly a year since the start of his high-profile trial at the Berlin Regional Court on Thursday. The 40-year-old palliative care doctor is charged with killing 15 patients in total – 12 women and three men – between September 2021 and July 2024. He is alleged to have administered a “lethal mixture of various drugs” to the victims, who were between 25 and 87 years old. Prosecutors also believe he set fires in some cases to try to obscure his...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Gulf allies on Thursday that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account, as he wrapped up a Middle East trip aimed at winning over regional partners with deep reservations about the preliminary accord. Speaking at a meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Bahrain – home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – Rubio said Washington was seeking an ‌enduring peace with long-time foe Iran that would not come at the expense of the security of allies in...

The European Union has disbursed the first €3 billion (US$3.4 billion) tranche of a €90 billion loan to Ukraine, the country’s prime minister announced on Thursday at the opening of a conference on Ukraine’s post-war recovery in Poland. The conference, attended by key European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Ukraine’s Western supporters are in it for a long...

A three-year-old has died after finding himself trapped in a car in the Paris region in extreme heat, a prosecutor said on Thursday, the third such fatality this week. The boy had slipped into the family car while his father thought he was napping, then found himself unable to get out with the child lock in the town of Saint-Gratien, the prosecutor said, after a police source and civil defence also reported the death. France on Wednesday recorded the hottest day since measurements began in 1947,...

There is a one in five chance that a packet of coffee beans sold in Europe contains residues of pesticides thought to have been erased during roasting, and in some cases include banned sprays that cause cancer, according to new research. There is a “systemic pattern” of pesticides showing up again and again in beans from most major production regions, says Coffee Watch, a US-based non-profit organisation seeking to reform the global coffee industry. Coffee Watch partnered with Pesticide Action...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday it may never be known who was at fault for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran on February 28, the first day of the Iran war, that killed scores of children. Reuters first reported in March that an initial internal US military investigation showed US forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab in southern Iran. The Pentagon has since elevated the probe but it has not acknowledged any preliminary findings. “I don’t know that they...

US President Donald Trump was dismissive of Andy Burnham, who is set to become the next UK prime minister, saying he was unfamiliar with him and has only heard that he is “extremely liberal”. The US president was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about what he knew about Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who is poised to succeed Keir Starmer in Britain’s latest leadership shake-up. “I don’t know anything. I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town. I hear he’s extremely...

US President Donald Trump opened 16 days of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary Wednesday with a rally-style speech – turning a national commemoration into a highly politicised showcase for his second-term agenda. The address, on Washington’s National Mall, underscored how Trump has reshaped the anniversary around his own brand of politics and showmanship, blurring the line between official celebration and campaign-style spectacle. The Republican leader eventually invoked the grand...

The market realignment over the past week starkly captures the self-defeating logic of America’s technology containment strategy. The momentum began on June 15, when the shares of Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer Zhipu AI, which trade in Hong Kong under Knowledge Atlas Technology, surged by 48 per cent intraday after it announced the open-source release of its GLM-5.2 foundation model. The rally continued this week, with Zhipu’s shares trading at an intraday high of HK$2,980 (US$380) in...

⁠Thousands of Venezuelans were feared dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and ⁠around the capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit about 160km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey. Emergency workers scrambled over the debris of collapsed buildings in...

The US Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa – who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 – is unexpectedly stepping down from his post after just 18 months in the job, the Army confirmed late on Tuesday. General Christopher Donahue, commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa and commander of Nato’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on July 2, according to an Army statement. He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military...

Right-wing ⁠candidate Keiko Fujimori said on ⁠Wednesday she would seek to ⁠unite a Peru “split in two” if she takes office, after razor-thin election results gave her enough votes to secure what appears to be an insurmountable lead in the presidential run-off. Fujimori, a four-time presidential hopeful and the daughter of late former president Alberto Fujimori, said ‌she would make an “open call” to experienced technocrats to form her first cabinet, as she seeks to fulfil campaign promises to...

The war in Iran is effectively over. Although the dust has yet to settle, some lessons are already visible. First, US President Donald Trump has waged a personal war at the world’s expense. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu warned that arms are ill-omened tools, employed only as a last resort. Trump, who has admitted he doesn’t like to read, may not realise this. Few people know why he ordered a strike on Iran. Maybe kidnapping president Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela was too easy or Israeli Prime...

The Trump administration said it would commit aid, at a time when it has been expanding U.S. commercial interests in Venezuela beyond oil.

Firefighters are using cellphone lights because of a flashlight shortage, and an overwhelmed hospital in the disaster zone is operating without running water, one doctor said.

Following high-profile primary victories by democratic socialists, some moderate Democrats are advocating a different course, highlighting tensions in the party.

After years of operating on the fringe of Democratic values, pro-Palestinian activists felt validated after the primary wins by several candidates who oppose Israel’s actions.

The former transportation secretary recounted being kept away from his 4-year-old twins overnight after an anonymous report accused him of posing a threat to them. The police said the report was false.

Weeks of intense strikes by Ukraine have rattled everyday life in Crimea to an extent unseen since Russia illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014.

Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission overruled its enforcement attorneys and killed a separate inquiry into whether the Trump-tied company was illegally serving U.S. customers.

The move de-escalates a clash between the Trump administration and the company over its cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.

The devastating heat wave has exposed weaknesses in the continent’s infrastructure, much of it built for a cooler climate that no longer exists.

The vice president said that the scandal that ended Richard Nixon’s presidency would be “like a 12-hour news story” if it happened today and that the “deep state” had taken down Nixon.

President Trump’s priorities seem increasingly detached from the concerns of voters and his party.

The university hired a high-powered law firm to try to reach an agreement with the Justice Department over claims its admissions practices hurt white and Asian applicants.

The retailer, renamed Exemplar Luxury Group, is ditching anything that isn’t focused on high-end department store shopping.

Where is Chief Justice John Roberts? And why isn’t he putting limits on this administration?

Four young Cubans grapple with what it means to stay on an island facing unprecedented migration.