Minimalist News

New York's Millionaire Exodus Is Costing Billions In Lost Revenue Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood outside Ken Griffin's $238 million Manhattan penthouse in April and declared victory. "When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we're taxing the rich," he said in a social media video marking the debut of New York City's first pied-à-terre tax, an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live in the city full time. He promised the tax would raise "at least $500 million directly for the city," money he

Largest US Power Grid Is 6.8 Gigawatts Short To Ensure Reliability On Historic Data Center Boom The largest US power grid failed for a third straight year to secure enough future supply commitments to ensure reliability for the future amid a historic boom in data center demand. PJM Interconnection, the largest US power grid (Regional Transmission Organization), which serves 67 million customers in 13 states and Washington, DC, said its auction to procure power for the year starting June 2028 fell 6.8 gigawatts short of what it will need to guarantee system reliability during demand spikes , in a statement

Rubio Pledges To Dismantle International Criminal Court's Threat To US Sovereignty Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times, The State Department is launching a campaign to “dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty,” the department said, including through disabling the court’s ability to target American servicemen or officials. The State Department said in a July 13 statement that actions under consideration include U.S. officials contacting foreign nations to highlight the ICC’s abuses and the risk posed to other countries by the court, and urging them to withdraw from the body. The Trump administration is

New York Becomes First State To Enact One Year Ban On New Data Centers The blowback against data centers escalated this morning, when New York became first state in the nation to enact a moratorium on data centers, pausing construction on new facilities for one year. An executive order by Gov. Kathy Hochul bans state lawmakers from approving environmental permits for hyperscale data centers. Hochul said Tuesday the pause will give lawmakers time to create a framework to protect residents and the environment. "Massive data centers are being built across our state and our country. The scale and speed of

Offload Risks Onto The Bottom 90% And Immiseration Follows Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, The underlying story of the past 50 years has been the offloading of risk onto workers and consumers. On my map of how the world works , we start with structures of control that distribute the good stuff--resources, assets, income and power--and the bad stuff: costs, losses and risks. As I explained in The US Economy In a Nutshell: Privatize the Gains, Socialize the Costs , the current arrangement distributes the gains to the top 10% and the costs and risks to the

Venezuela's Oil Revival Faces A Critical Services Bottleneck Authored by Rystad Energy via OilPrice.com, Venezuela could increase crude production by about 194,000 bpd by late 2028, with most growth coming from existing producing fields rather than new discoveries. International oil companies led by Chevron are expected to deliver nearly two-thirds of the forecast production increase through brownfield investments. The biggest obstacles are operational, including drilling rigs, diluent supplies, infrastructure upgrades, and a competitive fiscal regime capable of attracting long-term investment. Venezuela's upstream industry has entered a new phase. Following sweeping hydrocarbon reforms and broader geopolitical developments in early 2026, the

Lucid Calls Bankruptcy Report "Completely False" As Shares Stage V-Shaped Recovery Summary: Lucid Exec Calls Bankruptcy Report 'Fake News' Lucid Reponds , Denies AlixPartners Has Recommended Bankruptcy Route Lucid Crashes On Report It's Weighing A Take-Private Or Bankruptcy Lucid PR Head Calls Report "Completely False" Nick Twork, Lucid's chief communications officer, took to X in late-afternoon trading to deny Electric-Vehicles.com's report about a potential bankruptcy, stating that the "company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special board committee to explore the

Big Blew It! IBM Crashes Most Since '60s Amid CapEx Woes; Goldman Warns Over 'Software Bear Case' Summary: Wall Street Desks Stunned IBM Shares Crash Most On Record , Exceeding Dot Com & 1987 Crashes CEO Arvind Krishna Blamed Preliminary 2Q Results on "Shifting" Customer CapEx Spending IBM's surprise second-quarter warning blindsided traders Tuesday morning, raising new concerns that enterprise technology budgets are being redirected toward AI infrastructure at the expense of traditional software and IT services. Shares plunged 24% in the first 20 minutes of New York trading. Should those losses hold through the close, IBM would suffer its

IRGC Vows 'Not A Drop Of Oil & Gas Will Be Exported' From Region Amid Sustained Cross-Gulf Fighting Summary: Iran-US fighting is sustained but in tit-for-tat pace , with new reported strikes across the Gulf. Trump declares FULL blockade on Iranian ports , while IRGC asserts 'wartime control' of Hormuz . Trump drops 20% transit fee plan ; oil prices ease. Multiple tanker attacks over past day again disrupt shipping & cause casualties. Regional conflict expands with reported Houthi missiles on Saudi Arabia . Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by August 31? Yes 12% · No 89% View

De-Banked: It's Only A Matter Of Time Before It Happens To You Via InternationalMan.com , "We are writing to inform you that we cannot continue serving you. As a result of this decision, your account will be closed within 14 days from the date of this letter. Any remaining account balances will be sent by check to the address we have on file." Sooner or later, expect your bank to send you a letter like this. They won't even tell you why they are closing your account, and you will probably have trouble opening accounts at other banks. De-banking is

Billionaire Ken Griffin Has Spent $40 Million To Keep The Senate Red, But Snubs Trump's Favorite Texan Ken Griffin has put roughly $40 million into Republican midterm efforts this year and could double that by November, according to the Wall Street Journal . The money runs through nearly every competitive Senate race in the country - except for one... Ken Paxton's run for a seat in Texas, which won't see a dime of it. According to the report, the Citadel founder has no plans to help the Texas Republican nominee - the candidate President Trump pushed onto the ballot by

Sheriff Says Somali Youth Gangs Are Running Wild In Minneapolis Authored by Joe Schaeffer via Liberty Nation , A Minneapolis sheriff has triggered an uncomfortable conversation by saying out loud what you are not supposed to talk about in Minnesota. "Out of control" gangs of Somali youths are terrorizing the city, and the mayhem is poised to get worse. (Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images) Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher released a livestream video on July 6 decrying widespread violence by Somali gang members over the Fourth of July weekend. He also took the opportunity to criticize media

Watch: Yet Another Shocking Video Of UK's Two-Tier Policing Drops Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Fresh footage from Northern Ireland captures police sprinting past a group of knife- and stick-wielding feral youths to cuff a local man who had grabbed a stick to protect the native women and children in his street. The scene in Dungannon underscores a now-familiar pattern: authorities appear quicker to restrain locals standing up for their communities than to neutralise imported threats. The video, shared widely on X, shows a large group of youths described as "foreigners" arriving armed in a Protestant area

Whose-muz? By Michael Every of Rabobank Whose-muz? Oil leaped 9%, the largest move since 2020. Today, it’s up another 2.5% to $85 at time of writing. It’s a good job we also have the Cleveland Fed’s trimmed-mean inflation measure out as well, right? Obviously, oil was driven by developments in Hormuz - or rather Whose -muz? There, besides reimposing the naval blockade of Iran, President Trump stated those using the waterway will now pay 20% of the value of cargo as compensation to the US, the strait’s new guardian. While the proposed Iranian toll the US rejected was $2m per

China's Helium Export Ban Raises New Risks For Global Supply Chains Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times , China has imposed a temporary ban on helium exports, adding fresh uncertainty to global supplies of a gas essential to semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, medical equipment, and other high-tech industries. The first pilot helium production facility in Europe, located in Saint-Parize-le-Châtel, France, on Sept. 11, 2024. FREDERIC MOREAU/Hans Lucas via AFP/Getty Images The July 10 announcement by China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs comes as Beijing faces mounting pressure on its own helium supplies following disruptions to imports

Just 27.6% Of Stocks Outperform The Market While 60% Destroy Shareholder Wealth, New Study Finds From 1926 through 2025, just 27.6% of stocks beat the broader market. Nearly 60% actually destroyed shareholder wealth, and the median stock delivered a lifetime return of -6.9%. Yet despite those sobering odds, U.S. stocks collectively created roughly $91 trillion in wealth over the last century, with just 46 companies responsible for half of it. Those are some of the headline findings from a new study by Hendrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, who examined the performance of nearly 30,000

AI Companies Absorbing Office Space At Record Pace: Report Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times, Artificial intelligence (AI) firms are absorbing office space in primary markets such as San Francisco and New York City at a record pace, and the sector’s voracious demand for office space to build out development teams and products has begun spilling into a select subset of submarkets as well. National AI office demand was up 85 percent in the 12 months through May and spiked 179 percent in major AI hubs , a new AI report published on July 9 by AI-powered commercial

KeyBanc Downgrades Apple On New Growth Slowdown Fears Apple shares fell 1% in premarket trading after KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded the iPhone maker to "Underweight" from "Sector Weight" and set a 12-month price target of $250. This implies roughly a 21% decline from Monday's close, putting the stock in bear-market territory. The downgrade by KeyBanc analysts Brandon Nispel and John Vinh is based on a widening disconnect between Apple's valuation and its underlying growth outlook. They cite soaring memory chip prices, which are pushing iPhone, Mac, and iPad prices higher. This increases the risk of demand destruction, slower unit sales,

These Are The Riskiest States To Quit Your Job In A new study from Affordable Contractors Insurance examined labor market conditions across all 50 states to identify where workers face the greatest challenges replacing a job after voluntarily leaving one. Researchers evaluated unemployment rates, hiring activity, competition for available positions, household income, and local living costs to create an overall risk ranking. California finished at the top of the list as the most difficult state to recover after quitting a job, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, according to Affordable Contractors Insurance . California's combination of a

Graham's Final Mission? Trump Backs Hard-Hitting Russia Sanctions Package Apparently the late Senator Lindsey Graham's hawkish neocon legacy will continue to reverberate from beyond the grave . The 71-year old lawmaker died Saturday night "from a brief and sudden illness" - immediately after returning from Ukraine where he had toured drone and weapons factories. President Trump is expected to support the passage of a new bipartisan Russia sanctions package that was long spearheaded by Graham , according to CNN citing a White House official. via Associated Press The South Carolina senator spent years trying to finally advance it across the

One social media user described the opening of its first outlet in Monterrey as ‘like the dog teaching a duck to fly’ A US chain’s plan to sell its version of Mexican food to Mexicans with a first branch south of the border has prompted bemusement, skepticism and anger among local people. Chipotle Mexican Grill, known for its customisable burritos, tacos and bowls, has more than 4,000 locations worldwide and announced on Tuesday that it was expanding into Mexico in what it described as a significant milestone. Continue reading...

Threat of social unrest rises as public indignation at lack of disaster aid comes on top of fallout from US military intervention • A revolution in ruins: fury amid the rubble of a housing project in quake-hit Venezuela Public anger at what many perceive as the Venezuelan government’s botched response to twin earthquakes that killed nearly 4,500 people is growing, with one grieving mother caught on camera berating the son of former president Nicolás Maduro. Maduro’s politician son received a hostile reception while visiting a semi-destroyed social housing project named after his father’s late mentor Hugo Chávez. Continue reading...

Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexicans ‘outraged’ over killing last week of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by agents in Houston Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Monday that Mexico would be demanding criminal complaints in the US for the deaths of more than a dozen Mexican migrants in immigration detention and those killed in anti-migrant operations. The deaths include last week’s killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, whom Sheinbaum said was “practically murdered”. Continue reading...

Scientists worry that current eradication efforts won’t be able to contain parasitic infestation pushing into US When conservationists set up cameras in remote regions of Central American forests, they wanted to monitor illegal cattle movement, which can lead to deforestation . But in recent months, they discovered another alarming development: wildlife rapidly infected with the new world screwworm. It’s a warning sign of how the fly could spread in the US – and it signals new difficulties in pushing it back south, a process that will probably take years, experts say. Continue reading...

Discontent with Trump-backed government mounts as Chávez heirs struggle to respond to disaster for which they seem ill-prepared Even before two powerful earthquakes reduced the OPPE 25 government housing project to an anarchy of shattered concrete and broken lives, the foundations of Hugo Chávez’s populist “Bolivarian” revolution were shaking in what was once a hotbed of support. Gabriel González remembers his elation when, in 2013, he received the keys to his freshly completed apartment in one of the 12-floor tower blocks El Comandante had ordered to be built in an affluent corner of the resort town of Caraballeda. Continue reading...

Bar owner offers ‘deepest apologies’ as police investigate whether exits were either blocked or hard to access The Bangkok pub that became the scene of the city’s deadliest blaze in 17 years has said it will cooperate with an investigation into alleged negligence, as the death toll rose to 30. The local district office said on Tuesday that three more people had died after the devastating fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday. An initial assessment by disaster officials found an electrical short ‌circuit in an air conditioner located in the ‌ceiling had caused the fire. Continue

Country risks new tariffs from US and EU as it looks likely to match or beat last year’s record surplus of $1tn Business live – latest updates China’s monthly car ‌exports topped 1m for the first time in June as overall overseas shipments from the world’s second biggest economy rose 27%. Official Chinese customs data showed that a stronger-than-expected trade performance kept China on track to match or beat last year’s record trade surplus of $1tn (£748bn), achieved despite Donald Trump’s curtailed tariff war. Continue reading...

Issue must be addressed with ‘even greater rigour’, says government spokesman, after New York Times report on how it has become a spy hub for Vladimir Putin Japan has said it recognised the need to counter foreign intelligence better after the New York Times reported that Russia had turned the country into a “den of spies” and key source of weapons components. The newspaper, in an investigation published on Sunday, reported that thanks to “weak espionage laws”, Moscow was using Japan as a key hub for intelligence gathering and procurement of dual-use technology needed for its war in Ukraine. Continue

The fire is one of the deadliest such incidents in the popular tourist destination in ⁠recent years An explosive fire at a popular pub in Thailand’s ⁠capital, Bangkok, has killed 27 ⁠people and left another 22 ​in critical condition, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years. Officials said they were investigating whether emergency exits may have been obstructed, hindering people from escaping the burning Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub. Continue reading...

High temperatures and below average rainfall put pressure on waterways used to cool reactors Above average temperatures combined with below average rainfall across much of western and central Europe during June and the first half of July have placed increasing pressure on rivers, ecosystems and energy infrastructure. Persistent high pressure brought prolonged sunshine, suppressed rainfall and enhanced evaporation, causing river levels to fall and water temperatures to increase. These unusually warm rivers are affecting electricity generation in France, as several nuclear power stations rely on river water for cooling. Under French environmental regulations, operators must limit the amount of heat

Former Labor leader, now University of Canberra vice-chancellor, also said he was shocked by some evidence given at the royal commission on antisemitism. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Shorten shocked by testimony given to royal commission on antisemitism Former Labor leader Bill Shorten , now the vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, said he was shocked by the evidence given from the university sector during the latest round of hearings before the royal commission on antisemitism. It describes an Australia … and Australian universities that I don’t recognise. But

Documents show the FBI director’s gift was ‘displayed proudly’ by the AFP before new commissioner ordered it to be destroyed Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When the FBI director, Kash Patel, visited the Australian federal police last year, he came bearing a gift: a 3D-printed imitation pistol that then was “displayed proudly” in the commissioner’s office. Yet within months, shortly after Krissy Barrett became the AFP’s new commissioner last October, she ordered it to be destroyed. Continue reading...

Legal action by the Daylesford small business owner has forced Hepburn shire councillors to stand down – leaving only two able to serve Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast David Penman wasn’t happy. The Daylesford small business owner didn’t like the work of his local council. So, using little-known laws that force elected officials to stand down, he essentially stopped it from making any big decisions. Continue reading...

Growing Up in Australia report shows gen Z are more anxious about housing affordability than climate change or following a chosen career path Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Far more young people are worried about being able to buy a home than about climate change or finding a job in their chosen field, according to a study that also reveals gen Z’s deep distrust of politicians, political parties and the media. The latest insights from a major longitudinal study show high levels of participation

GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Claims by the Coalition and One Nation that abandoning a net zero climate target would bring down power prices are contradicted in a new CSIRO report on the costs of generating electricity. Generation costs will probably rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s policy on net zero , according to the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, but prices should then stabilise

Fire broke out last Thursday in the southeastern province of Almería, which is home to many foreign residents Seven Britons are among 12 foreign nationals killed in wildfires in southern Spain, authorities said. Officials said 12 of the 13 victims were foreign nationals after completing postmortem examinations after the fires that swept through Andalusia. Continue reading...

Pop star, whose parents are Kosovan Albanian, expresses admiration for demonstrations, which are entering their sixth week Albania’s “flamingo revolution” has won its most prominent supporter yet after the pop star Dua Lipa expressed admiration for the protest movement against a Trump family-backed resort in the Balkan state. As demonstrations against the €1.6bn (£1.36bn) real estate project entered a sixth week, the London-born singer, who was partially raised in Pristina, home to her Kosovan Albanian émigré parents, described the civic unrest as “inspiring”. Continue reading...

Firework displays cancelled as Paris military parade asserts ‘France’s rearmament … and Europe’s strategic awakening’ Emmanuel Macron has presided over his final Bastille Day parade in Paris amid a searing heatwave and wildfires that forced authorities around the country to cancel traditional firework displays and balls celebrating France’s national day. The French president was joined for the annual military procession and flypast by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the British ‌prime minister, Keir Starmer, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and two dozen other national leaders. Continue reading...

US government says it wants to ‘systematically disable’ The Hague-based international criminal court A spokesperson for the EU has pushed back against the Trump administration’s assertion that the international criminal court poses a threat to US sovereignty, a day after the US government said it would work to “systematically disable” a global tribunal that seeks to prosecute the perpetrators of the world’s gravest crimes. Anouar El Anouni, an EU spokesperson, said on Tuesday: “We stand firm in our support for the international criminal court (ICC). Attacks or threats against the court, elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court

Exclusive: Emmanuel Macron honours outgoing prime minister for leadership role in supporting Ukraine Keir Starmer has become the first UK prime minister to be presented with the Légion d’honneur by a French president, in recognition of his work with France on the security of Europe. Emmanuel Macron awarded the historic honour to Starmer for his leadership in setting up the coalition of the willing – a group of countries chaired by France and the UK that have pledged to support Ukraine – at a critical moment for Europe in early 2025. Continue reading...

Donald Trump claims shipping route is open for all except Iranian ships as US issues new Iran-related sanctions Tuesday Trump again threatens to strike Iran’s power plants amid impasse over strait of Hormuz Resurgent oil and fuel prices could cement a fourth interest rate rise in Australia this year if Donald Trump’s renewed conflict with Iran is not resolved within a week , economists warn. US missile strikes on Iran and Trump’s announcement of a new maritime blockade has lifted oil prices to their highest point in the month since the two countries agreed to a peace deal . Continue

US president says he will knock out all Iran’s power plants and bridges next week in bid to force Tehran to agree to a deal Middle East crisis – live updates President Donald Trump has threatened to expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal amid a continuing dispute over the strait of Hormuz. “Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday. “We’re going to knock

US hits targets in port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas while Iran targets Bahrain and Jordan in retaliation Middle East crisis live – latest updates Donald Trump has backed down from a threat that ships would have to pay a 20% fee to the US for “security” in the strait of Hormuz, replacing it with what he described as investment and trade deals with Gulf Arab states as US and Iranian airstrikes resumed for a third day. The US president said he had decided to scrap the toll “based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership”, and touted

Plane bringing Houthi delegation home from Tehran had to divert after Yemeni government bombed Sana’a airport Middle East crisis live – latest updates Iranian flights to and from Yemen are an unacceptable violation of the country’s sovereignty, the vice-president in Yemen’s Saudi-backed, UN-recognised government has said. Abdullah al-Alimi said in an interview that the planes contained equipment for the Houthi movement, which he said had transformed from merely a domestic threat into a regional and international threat to global security and the global economy. Continue reading...

This blog is closed – our live coverage continues here Bahrain’s military has accused Iran of targeting civilians with its latest attacks on the country, after Tehran said it had struck US military facilities and infrastructure there earlier. “Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its heinous attacks with missiles and drones that target civilians in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the general command of Bahrain’s military said, adding that air defences “intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks” this morning. Continue reading...

Innocent man lynched by mob in West Bengal as police killing of suspect further escalates tensions Protests have engulfed the Indian state of West Bengal after the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, the subsequent lynching of an innocent man and the police killing of one of the accused. Outrage erupted on Sunday after the body of a missing girl was recovered from a pond in a town just outside the state capital, Kolkata. Continue reading...

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India. At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and

Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing. The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). Continue reading...

Amnesty International says Albanese has opportunity to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment’ to rule of law as thousands in diaspora expected at stadium event Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Australia in three years has sparked calls for the federal government to raise human rights concerns, as excitement builds within the nation’s Indian diaspora. Modi’s visit begins on Wednesday evening and marks his third since becoming prime minister. It will see him return to Melbourne after more than

Thousands of women are killed in dowry disputes each year, despite the practice being banned in 1961 Dowry deaths in India no longer provoke the public anger they once did, despite thousands of women’s lives still being lost every year, according to new research. The killings – women who are murdered or driven to suicide following dowry disputes between families – have also faded from political debate, despite an increase in cases. Continue reading...

Annual State of the UK Climate analysis finds last four years in UK are in top five hottest on record The UK’s climatic extremes are becoming increasingly normal, a report has found, with last year the hottest on record and further “unprecedented changes” likely to break the record again soon. Data stretching back to 1884 shows the UK has never experienced a year as hot as 2025, according to the annual State of the UK Climate report, with temperatures pushed to dizzying heights by carbon pollution clogging the atmosphere. Continue reading...

Commons health committee also recommends end to junk food advertising on billboards and public transport Fast food chains such as KFC should be stopped from opening near schools, and advertising for junk food on billboards and public transport should be banned to help curb obesity, MPs will say today. The Commons health committee will also urge ministers to stop giving in to food industry lobbying and get tough to tackle a problem that costs the UK £74bn a year and causes huge illness. Supermarkets should be forced to display fruit and vegetables prominently, for example near entrances and checkouts, to

Midnight to 6am block on some apps is latest stage of Labour’s bid to protect young people from online harms Sixteen and 17-year-olds are to be encouraged to observe a midnight social media curfew, in the latest stage of Labour’s bid “to protect the next generation” from online harms, including poor sleep caused by night-time scrolling. From next spring, Britain’s oldest children will be urged to refrain from using certain apps with a midnight to 6am block being switched on by default. But the curfew will not be mandatory and can be overridden. The move is an extension of the

Andrew Bailey warns that US will not be able to achieve its ambitions alone The Bank of England governor has called for international cooperation to tackle growing AI threats, warning that the US and Trump administration would not be able to achieve their ambitions alone. Andrew Bailey’s comments come weeks after the US president, Donald Trump, temporarily banned foreigners from using Anthropic’s powerful Claude Mythos model. Continue reading...

Bill marks a full-circle moment for the PM-in-waiting and encapsulates what he says his government will be about Andy Burnham has always said he took his first steps out of Westminster in 2009, when he walked out to address furious Liverpool fans at the Kop on the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. They chanted “Justice for the 96” for a full two minutes before the then culture secretary was able to continue, demonstrating their anger that nobody in public office had been convicted of any offence over the tragedy. Continue reading...

Clarence Frazier Jr charged with murder over killing of Drew Hanson and could face death penalty if convicted A federal agent was fatally shot while trying to help authorities capture a man who failed to show up to his sexual battery trial in Louisiana , according to the US justice department. Clarence Frazier Jr, 48, was charged with murder in the killing of deputy US marshal Drew Hanson, authorities said. Frazier could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if he is eventually convicted of murdering Hanson. Rae Walberg of WWL Louisiana , a Guardian reporting partner, contributed Continue reading...

Bid to end clock-changing has bipartisan support, including backing of Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors The US House of Representatives on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent. The bid to end clock-changing, dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act, has bipartisan support, including the backing of Donald Trump and some Democratic co-sponsors. Following the 308-117 tally in the House, the bill next goes to the Senate. Continue reading...

Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett appear before House lawmakers in rare testimony to ask for more protection Supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett told House lawmakers that a sharp rise in threats against her and other justices is increasingly affecting her personal and family lives. Barrett and fellow supreme court justice Elena Kagan made the case for increased security in rare House testimony to discuss the court’s budget request. The last time a sitting justice answered questions on Capitol Hill was 2019. Continue reading...

‘Enchanted’ visitors queued for hours to see two of largest – and smelliest – plants flower in San Marino Two corpse flowers have bloomed at a southern California research institution, where thousands of visitors had the rare chance to watch two of the world’s largest – and most odorous – plants flowering at the same time. The two titan arums, named Odorysseus and Odora, attracted more than 7,000 people on Monday at the Huntington library, art museum and botanical gardens in San Marino, about 12 miles (19km) from downtown Los Angeles, after they bloomed over the weekend. Continue reading...

House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, calls amendment ‘overly broad’ as party grapples with backlash over Israel US politics live – latest updates Top House Democrats split on Tuesday over a proposal to block aid for Israel’s military, with two of the party’s highest-ranking lawmakers saying they will oppose the effort while the chair of the progressive caucus encouraged his colleagues to back the defunding. The debate over an amendment introduced by Republican congressman Thomas Massie to halt $3.3bn in aid for Israel – the majority of which would go to its military – comes as Democrats grapple with a rebellion

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has ordered its officers to suspend most ⁠vehicle stops around the country, after agents fatally shot two men six days apart during traffic stops in Texas and Maine, officials said on Tuesday. The shift in arrest tactics, which US President Donald Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, called a “temporary pause” in vehicle stops, was implemented one day after an ICE agent killed a driver from Colombia in the coastal Maine town of Biddeford, about 24km...

Writer E. Jean Carroll has collected over US$5.6 million that a jury awarded in her sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against US President Donald Trump, court records and her lawyers said. The payment – representing the US$5 million jury award, plus interest – was made Monday from an account where it had been held in escrow since the 2023 verdict, according to court records. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the payment on Tuesday. “We are pleased to report that she has received the...

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned plans to impose a 20 per cent charge on commercial cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, less than a day after unveiling the proposal, while pressing ahead with a naval blockade targeting Iranian trade. Trump said the proposed fee would be replaced by trade and investment agreements with Gulf states following discussions with regional leaders. “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the...

US consumer inflation slowed more than expected in June as energy prices retreated, but the moderation was insufficient to convince financial markets to take an interest-rate increase from the Federal Reserve this year off the table against the backdrop of renewed conflict in the Middle East. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Labour Department on Tuesday also showed underlying inflation subsiding last month amid declines in the costs of motor vehicle insurance, communication, apparel,...

Louis Vuitton is set to face off against China’s trademark regulator in a Chinese intellectual property court on Thursday, as the French luxury brand deals with public backlash in China over a separate legal battle against a local milk tea brand. Louis Vuitton Malletier filed the administrative lawsuit against the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), with a Chinese individual – Huang Minyao – joined as a third party, according to a notice published by the Beijing...

Deaths in Germany spiked 32 per cent during a record heatwave in June compared to levels in the previous four years, official data showed Tuesday. Nationwide, about 23,900 people died between June 22 and June 28 – an increase of 7,100 compared with the two previous weeks, according to Germany’s statistics agency. “The fact that the health impact from heat is high and that death rates rise as a result is a well-known effect often observed in the summer months,” the agency said. Sweltering weather...

A Norwegian chemical tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, a crisis response company said. MTI Network said in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported that at approximately 12.40am local time “its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device”. The explosion triggered a fire in the ship’s engine room, but an MTI...

There should be a “youth mode” for children on social media platforms in which addictive features and targeted advertising are turned off, EU lawmakers demanded on Tuesday. The calls are growing louder for the European Union to ensure that social media platforms and others are designed to be safe before children use them. An expert report on Monday also recommended a “safety-by-design” approach in which platforms protect minors from possible harms posed by the apps. “The responsibility for the...

Ten men suffered injuries on Tuesday during the eighth and final bull run of Spain’s famed San Fermin festival, bringing to 57 the total number of daredevils injured during this year’s fiesta. An 18-year-old man suffered a gore wound to the thigh and a 46-year-old man was gored in the chest, while the remaining eight – including an 86-year-old British man – were taken to hospital with bruises of varying severity, the Navarre regional government said in a statement. The six fighting bulls and...

Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place in France’s national Bastille Day celebrations on Tuesday as a massive parade showcased support for Kyiv and symbolically flexed European military muscle. On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted around 30 other leaders for an event that appeared aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself. Ukrainian President...

Yemen’s Houthi movement fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group. Saudi Arabia intercepted missiles “launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the southern region,” the spokesperson for a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on X. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said ‌they had targeted the international airport in...

On July 6, a Chinese strategic nuclear submarine fired a missile carrying a training dummy warhead into a designated area of the Pacific. Beijing described the launch as routine, said relevant countries had been notified and insisted that it targeted no state. The regional reaction was immediate, with Australia, Japan, the United States and Pacific nations raising concerns around insufficient notification and the politics of nuclear-free zones. Those reactions matter because they show how far...

Iran fired ballistic missiles at a US airbase in Jordan on Tuesday and the United States attacked Iranian targets for five hours in a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz that has pushed up oil prices to four-week highs. US forces launched waves of attacks for the third successive night after Iran said on Saturday it was closing the strait, prompting US President Donald Trump to reinstate a blockade of Iranian shipping and propose charging a 20 per cent fee to guard the vital waterway. The...

Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles at Kyiv early on Tuesday, the fifth such attack on the Ukrainian capital so far this ‌month as Moscow escalates its air strikes against Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks damaged 16 sites in the capital, including a school and a business, while city officials reported several fires across the city. Russia also targeted critical infrastructure in central and southern Ukraine, Zelensky said, adding that the attacks...

Britain banned support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a linked group on Monday following a series of antisemitic attacks, using new powers designed to stop the use of state-sponsored proxies. The government and intelligence agencies have become increasingly ‌concerned about foreign powers paying organised crime groups or low-level criminals for surveillance, sabotage or other activities on their behalf. The ban follows attacks on Jewish-linked sites in London, including...

Andy Burnham took another significant step on Monday towards becoming Britain’s next prime minister, netting additional Labour MPs’ nominations to give him an unassailable lead in the ruling party’s leadership contest. The veteran politician, who has served as Greater Manchester mayor for nearly a decade, is the only Labour member of parliament to publicly declare themselves a candidate to replace outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer announced he was quitting last month, bowing to...

The United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) is set to ban collaborations with Chinese research institutions designated as restricted entities, as well as their employees, under a new policy that moves away from seeking to balance security risks with the benefits of international collaboration. The policy reflects a broader congressional push by House Republicans to curb academic partnerships between China and the US, amid lawmakers’ concerns that such ties could contribute to Beijing’s...

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood announced plans on Monday to change UK law to allow a convicted paedophile who led a so-called grooming gang to be deported following his release from prison. Shabir Ahmed was jailed in 2012 for 22 years for multiple child sexual offences including rape when he was the ringleader of a gang of similarly predatory men targeting girls in Rochdale, northern England. He left prison on licence earlier this month under the country’s early release programme. He was...

US President Donald Trump’s administration has turned over to ⁠Minneapolis prosecutors evidence it had withheld on immigration agents’ killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and wounding of a Venezuelan man during deportation sweeps in January, local officials said on Monday. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the city’s lead prosecutor, said the federal government handed over the “voluminous” evidence in the three shootings after six months of discussions, jurisdictional disputes ‌and a...

France on Monday battled two fires that scorched over 1,300 hectares in a forest south of Paris on Monday, as police arrested two people suspected of arson. The fire erupted Sunday in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest, a former royal hunting estate that today is dotted with quiet villages, about 60km (40 miles) southeast of the capital. As the region sweltered through its latest heatwave, the wildfire – rare in the north of the country – quickly spread across the Unesco biosphere reserve,...

Shein Executive Chairman Donald Tang will step down as his mission of taking the company public nears completion, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday, retreating to an advisory role after three years as the public face of the global fast-fashion retailer. A Chinese-American billionaire who began his career in banking, Tang has acted as the Western proxy of ‌secretive Shein founder Sky Xu, liaising with politicians and regulators around the world while also...

The US Department of Defence ⁠said on Monday ⁠it would invest US$25 million ⁠in rare earths start-up ReElement Technologies, part of a broader push by the Trump administration to boost domestic supplies of critical minerals and challenge ‌China’s dominance of the sector. ReElement aims to use a novel processing technology to refine rare earths and other critical minerals at its planned commercial facility in Marion, Indiana. The rare earths are expected to be used ⁠in magnets found in a range of...

Mexico said on Monday it does not seek conflict with the United States but must stand up for its citizens as it seeks criminal charges over the killing of several Mexicans by US immigration authorities. At least 17 Mexican citizens have died while held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or during federal raids since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. Having already announced plans to press for criminal charges over the deaths, Mexican President Claudia...

The United States on Monday announced a sweeping campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could include further sanctions and other measures, accusing it of posing “an intolerable threat to US sovereignty”. The Trump administration said it would pressure other countries to withdraw from the court, marking a sharp escalation in the US effort to isolate the Hague-based institution and starve it of political and financial support. “The ICC and its friends are waging a war...

Most European Union countries on Monday called for the bloc to put forward a proposal on banning the import of products from Israeli settlements, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “The option that got the most support was banning the trade with the illegal settlements,” Kallas said after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers. “We tasked ambassadors to take this work forward and also ministers agreed that, if necessary, we can also reconvene an extraordinary meeting,” she...

Ukraine’s allies gathered in Paris on Monday to ramp up support for Kyiv, particularly in air defence, and increase pressure on Russia to end the war, which is well into its fifth year. Representatives of the 37 coalition members, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, arrived at Les Invalides in the French capital for the summit of the Coalition of the Willing, launched by France and the United Kingdom to provide military support to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in...

A person was killed ⁠on Monday in ⁠a shooting involving US immigration agents in ⁠Maine, a top state lawmaker said, days after a man was fatally shot by a US agent during a traffic stop in Texas. “This morning a shooting occurred in Biddeford. A person was killed. ICE was involved,” Ryan Fecteau, the ‌speaker of the Maine House of Representatives and a native of Biddeford, wrote on Facebook. “State Police and the Department of Public Safety are now on scene to gather details and would expect the...

US President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States would begin charging commercial vessels for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz as Washington reinstates its blockade of Iran following a renewed escalation in the conflict. Trump said Iranian vessels and ships trading with Iran would be barred from using the strategic waterway, while other countries would retain access under a system that would impose a 20 per cent fee on eligible cargoes. “We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN...

Early on July 12, after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed until further notice and struck a Cyprus-flagged container ship, the United States launched its third round of strikes in a week, hitting some 140 targets. Most were along Iran’s southern coast overlooking the strait – including Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask and Qeshm – but one strike days earlier pointed to a different logic. On July 9, US cruise missiles hit the Aq Taqeh Khan bridge in Aq Qala, in the northern province of Golestan,...

British counterterrorism police officers are now leading the investigation into the suspected murder of former British government minister Ann Widdecombe in light of new information, interior minister Shabana Mahmood said on Monday. Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her ‌home in rural southwest England last Thursday with what police described as “serious injuries”. She was a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, having left the Conservatives after she stood down from Parliament...

The European ⁠Union will move to limit young ⁠children’s access to social media across the 27-member bloc, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, in what would be the biggest such effort to date to guard against online dangers. Von ‌der Leyen presented a paper from two experts recommending a tiered approach, with under-13s only allowed to use social media for limited periods under the supervision of parents, carers and teachers. The curbs would be lifted gradually as...

A United ⁠States citizen infected with the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was admitted to Frankfurt University Hospital early on Monday, officials said. The ‌patient arrived at the hospital’s special isolation unit at around 3am local time after contracting the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus in Congo, the hospital said. The US CDC said ⁠on Friday that a US citizen working for a humanitarian ‌organisation in Congo had tested positive for the Bundibugyo Ebola...

Filipino domestic workers continue to endure widespread labour exploitation and sexual abuse in Saudi Arabia, according to a new Amnesty International report. The rights watchdog found conditions had barely improved despite years of promised reforms, including last year’s abolition of the kingdom’s notorious “kafala” sponsorship system. The report, based on interviews conducted in March with 19 Filipino women who worked as domestic staff in Saudi Arabia, found consistent patterns of abuse, from...

Sam Neill, a smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster as he dodged velociraptors in Jurassic Park to playing Holly Hunter’s husband in The Piano, has died. He was 78. In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page. His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding...

European countries reported more than 10,000 excess deaths during ⁠the record-breaking heatwave that engulfed ⁠the west of the continent in ⁠late June, official data showed. The vast majority – more than 9,000 – were among people aged 65 and above, according to data published by EuroMOMO, a network backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization. Extreme heat can kill by ‌causing heatstroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Flights and rail services resume across eastern China as Typhoon Bavi weakens Rail and air services began returning to normal across large areas of eastern China on Sunday as Typhoon Bavi weakened and moved inland, away from some of the country’s largest cities. 2. What happened before Chinese...

The government has a lot on its plate right now, especially with public consultations under way for the chief executive’s last policy address of his current term and for the city’s first five-year plan. But there is an urgent matter it must address as soon as possible. The resignation of William Wong Kam-fai from the Legislative Council means there is a vacant seat for the Election Committee constituency. There should not be any delays in filling the seat. The longer the government stays silent...

The United States and Iran each asserted on Monday they controlled the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks stretching across the wider Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy to end the war. The attacks, sparked by Iran striking a container ship Sunday in the strait off the coast of Oman, again underlined that the waterway that once saw a fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natural gas pass through it remained the key issue in negotiations. The narrow mouth of the Persian...

Senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalisation, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a...

German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a 29-year-old man who is accused of holding a woman hostage in a Berlin supermarket for more than 11 hours over the weekend. The man was charged on Sunday with kidnapping for ransom, in conjunction with attempted aggravated extortion and dangerous bodily harm. The man allegedly took the female supermarket employee hostage and threatened her inside a shop in Berlin’s southern Marienfelde neighbourhood on Friday evening shortly after 10pm local...

Parts of the United Kingdom are at “exceptional” risk of wildfires as the heatwave continues, experts have warned. Areas in southern England and the Midlands are highlighted as being at the highest risk, according to Natural England. Its fire severity index shows the area of “exceptional” risk is set to increase and spread to the southeast and east of England by the middle of the week, while most of the rest of England and Wales is deemed to be of “very high” risk over the coming days. The Met...

Police in Canada were searching on Sunday for the suspect or suspects involved in a shooting at a Latino music festival in Toronto that left two people dead and four others seriously injured. “Police are continuing their investigation at the scene,” City Councillor Josh Matlow said on social media, alluding to the attack on Saturday night. The final day of the Salsa on St Clair festival, Sunday, was cancelled, he added. According to initial reports gathered on Saturday evening, “there was an...

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced fresh changes to Ukraine’s government, saying he had offered a new and important position to the former premier. Zelensky, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to his administration. Svyrydenko, who has served as Ukraine’s economy minister, was named prime...

Israel will hold national elections on October 27, the last date allowed by law, its parliament said on Sunday, with the vote widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership since the Gaza war erupted. The Knesset, as parliament is known, is set to end its current term on July 17, allowing the ruling coalition to complete a full four-year term for the first time in decades. “Since the current Knesset is expected to serve its full term and the next general election...

Israeli attacks killed at least six people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a 9-year-old girl, Palestinian health officials said, as mediators held ‌more talks to safeguard the US-brokered ceasefire. Medics said Israeli gunfire directed at a tent encampment on the eastern side of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed 9-year-old Tala Abu Matar. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the incident. An air strike at a metal foundry in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood killed...

Also, Trump drops his plan for a Strait of Hormuz fee. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office.

Todd Blanche’s role in interviewing Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will be front and center as he seeks to become attorney general.

The uneasy truce between the administration and the law firms it cut deals with last year has erupted into a pitched legal battle behind closed doors.

For the first time in more than a decade, no active-duty female Navy officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year.

Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett, the first Supreme Court justices to testify since 2019, talked about ethics and security threats during collegial hearings.

New York’s specialized high schools give disproportionately few seats to Black and Hispanic students, continuing a pattern that has drawn criticism.

The City Council speaker, Julie Menin, said she would support a bill to ban the rides in Central Park after a tourist was killed in an accident last month.

A federal jury found President Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Ms. Carroll. He exhausted his appeals last month, prompting a judge to order that the money be paid.

Thanks to an assist from his sons, Mike D is set to release “Thank You,” the first new music from a member of the pioneering rap trio in 15 years.

Supporters in both parties hope the measure to penalize Russia, championed by Senator Lindsey Graham, will gain momentum in his honor.

Three days after Lindsey Graham died, his younger sister Darline Graham took the oath to hold his seat until his term ends in January.

House Republicans and Democrats united in favor of a bill to eliminate semiannual clock-changing, but it faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Intense storms overnight dropped heavy rain, and more was falling Tuesday. Forecasters warned about the increasing likelihood of flooding across the state.

Storms on Tuesday could produce damaging winds, large hail and even tornadoes in areas where they are not common.

At the high-flying New York outpost of Ambassadors Clubhouse, the Punjabi cooking is beguiling and the city feels miles away.

Would the world have been safer if Graham hadn’t cozied up to Trump?

He bent the knee and made the most of it.

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, a heated rivalry has split a town for a century. It’s got nothing to do with sports or politics.