Minimalist News

Semiconductor Stocks Tumble After Microsoft Balks At $3B Oracle Cloud Deal Chip stocks tumbled even further in late Tuesday trading following a report that Microsoft just walked away from talks with Oracle about leasing the company's cloud infrastructure because of concerns over security and compliance. The deal, according to Business Insider , would have been worth over $3 billion - as large Silicon Valley tech companies are running short on computing power (more on that later). The plan was to move some Microsoft workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, but Oracle's public cloud did not have the Federal Risk and Authorization

FBI Raids Soros-Connected Ohio Voter Mobilization Group In Fraud Investigation Via American Greatness, Federal investigators executed search warrants at the headquarters of a Soros-aligned voter mobilization organization in Ohio as part of what sources described as an ongoing fraud investigation. FBI agents searched the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative on June 11 and conducted interviews with members of the organization across the state, according to reports. Some agents reportedly served subpoenas or sought to seize electronic devices during the operation. Multiple sources familiar with the matter later told CBS News that the federal action was tied to a fraud-related

Gavin Newsom And The DOJ Probe Opened Under Biden: Behested Payments, Family Nonprofits, & Questions Of Influence California Gov. Gavin Newsom has launched an aggressive counteroffensive against a federal investigation he calls a politically motivated "fishing expedition" - for a probe which was opened under the Biden adminisgration. In a video posted to X and a formal letter to the Department of Justice, Newsom demanded all internal communications since January 2025 that mention him or his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The Freedom of Information Act request targets top DOJ officials, including former Attorney General Pam Bondi who was dismissed in

San Francisco Judge Dismisses xAI Trade Secret Lawsuit Against OpenAI Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, A federal judge dismissed a trade secret lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s xAI against OpenAI, ruling that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate the competing artificial intelligence company improperly obtained confidential information. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued the order Monday in San Francisco, dismissing the case with prejudice, resulting in xAI being unable to refile an amended version of the complaint based on the same arguments. Lin found that xAI did not make clear that OpenAI led former senior engineer Xuechen Li

Thune Signals Senate Will Pursue Stand-Alone FISA Renewal Despite Trump's Demands Via American Greatness, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, (R-SD,) said Monday that Senate Republicans are moving forward with plans to renew a key federal surveillance authority as a stand-alone measure, despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that it be tied to election legislation. Thune told reporters the Senate is working to revive Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired over the weekend after Congress failed to extend it before a deadline. “We will try and move 702 as soon as we feel like we have the votes

Hardline Israeli Politicians Livid Over Iran Deal, Want Netanyahu Out So They Can Do 'Real Regime Change' Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett didn’t mince words on Monday: the clock for regime change in Iran starts ticking the moment Israel gets a new government. Chairman of the “Together” party and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 20, 2026. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) Speaking at the Knesset, Bennett unloaded on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership , declaring that his term "began with a civil war, continued with the massacre of October 7,

Stellar 20Y Auction Stops Through, With Highest Foreign Demand In 2 Years In a quiet day for stocks, which are now trading near session lows, which in turn is prompting a bid for safety, the Treasury complex was already trading at the best levels of the day ahead of today's Treasury auction. Then just after 1pm, the stellar results from today's 20Y auction (technically a 19 Year 11-month reopening of cusip UV8), confirmed the solid demand for US paper. Today's sale of $13BN in 20Y paper was solid from top to bottom. The auction priced at a high yield of

QatarEnergy Plans Rapid LNG Production Restart As Hormuz Reopens Qatar shut the world's largest LNG facility early in the U.S.-Iran war after Iranian Shahed one-way attack drones struck critical energy infrastructure, triggering chaos across global gas markets, just as the Hormuz maritime chokepoint was shuttered. Now, with a U.S.-Iran peace deal set to formally reopen the waterway by Friday, there is encouraging news on the supply side: According to Bloomberg News , Qatar is preparing to rapidly restart LNG production, a move that could help ease the global supply crunch and accelerate the normalization of energy flows. Sources tell the

Trump Calls On Putin To Reach Deal With Ukraine After Zelenskyy Meeting Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times , U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his G7 summit meetings on June 16 in the French spa town of Evian-les-Bains, joining a roundtable discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other G7 leaders. (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy take part in a working session at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 16, 2026. Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP "We had a very good meeting," Trump told reporters

Deal Doubts Arise As Lebanese, Iranian Officials Say US Must Rein In Israel To Secure Regional Peace Summary: Iran Says Peace Deal Requires Israeli Withdrawal From Lebanon Hormuz Fears Ease As Trump, Ghalibaf Virtually Sign US-Iran Deal, But Energy Flows Remain Months From Normal Polymarket: Israel x Hezbollah permanent peace deal by June 30, 2026? Yes 26% · No 74% View full market & trade on Polymarket Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, held a call earlier, urging the U.S. to compel Israel to end its bloody war on Lebanon, stop home demolitions, and

Oil Experts To Spar On Iran Deal: Crude To $150 Or $50? With oil prices plunging after the announcement of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement and plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, traders are asking: Is the geopolitical risk premium gone, or is the market setting up for another shock? Tonight at 7pm ET , veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie and energy economist Anas Alhajji join host Erik Townsend to debate where oil heads next. The tentative agreement sent crude sharply lower as investors price in the return of halted supply and reduced odds of a prolonged Middle East conflict.

Supreme Court Rejects Bid By 98-Year-Old Appeals Judge To Be Reinstated Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 declined to take up the case of a 98-year-old federal judge’s challenge to her ongoing suspension from an appeals court in the nation’s capital. The court’s new decision in Newman v. Moore took the form of an unsigned order . No justices dissented. The court did not explain its decision. Judge Pauline Newman, who turns 99 on June 20, sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She filed a petition

Sign(s) Here, Here, And Here By Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank After pricing in nearly 40 pronouncements of US victory since early April, markets have naturally embraced a US-Iran ‘deal’ now e-signed -- with a thumbs up emoji ?-- so all that’s left is a ceremony to mark the event on Friday. That and the details of what was signed, which are still lacking from the US. In their absence, we get more polymetis spin from both sides. Iran is saying they got everything they wanted, and there are signs of that. Weeks ago, it was floated Iran would

FBI Foils Alleged Suicide Drone Plot Targeting "Capitalist Elites" At UFC White House Event Regular readers know that the threat of suicide drones has expanded beyond the modern battlefields of Ukraine and the Middle East - with potential targets including data centers and critical infrastructure . Given this potential, it was only a matter of time before an FPV-style attack was attempted on the homeland. Today, Fox News' reports that federal agents and law enforcement partners foiled an alleged FPV attack plot targeting this past weekend's UFC Freedom 250 event in Washington, D.C. According to the report, five people were

Bank Of Japan Raises Rates To 1% For The First Time In 31 Years, Will Stop Reducing Bond Purchases As widely expected, the BoJ raised the policy rate by 25bp to "around 1%" (there was one dissent from newly appointed dovish board member Asada for a hold) taking the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 31 years as the country adjusts to sustained inflation. The 0.25% increase, which was widely expected, takes Japan to what analysts said was a critical milestone in the central bank’s effort of normalizing monetary policy after years of ultra-low interest rates and deflation.

"They Will Hear From Our Lawyers": Elon To Sue German Broadcaster Over Claim He Told Belfast Protesters To 'Hunt Migrants' Via Remix News , Tech trillionaire Elon Musk has said he will take legal action against German public broadcaster ZDF after it linked him to unrest in Belfast and accused him of helping instigate a "hunt" against migrants. The dispute followed the attempted beheading of a man in Northern Ireland by a Sudanese migrant, which prompted British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson to call for nationwide protests. Musk shared Robinson's post on X and added, "Only through repeated and loud protests

China's DRAM Giant CXMT Gets Final Nod For Largest Mainland IPO Since 2022 Chengxin Memory Technology, China’s leading maker of DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) chips, has had its initial public offering approved by the country’s securities watchdog, clearing the way for the Chinese mainland’s biggest stock market listing since 2022. CXMT’s registration to go public on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market became effective on June 12. The Hefei-based company is planning to raise CNY29.5 billion (USD4.4 billion) by issuing 10.6 billion shares, which would also make it the Star Market’s second-largest IPO. As the only Chinese integrated devices manufacturer that has

Yum Unloads Pizza Hut Chain As Private Equity Takes On Turnaround Challenge Yum! Brands agreed to sell its iconic Pizza Hut chain for $2.7 billion following a strategic review, separating the struggling pizza brand from its broader restaurant portfolio, which includes KFC, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill. LongRange Capital will acquire Pizza Hut's business outside China for $1.5 billion, while Yum China will buy the China business for $1.2 billion. Both transactions are expected to close in the third quarter. The Stamford, Connecticut-based private equity firm typically invests in middle-market businesses, usually with a longer-term, operationally focused approach.

Chinese Stocks, Yuan Drop After Dismal Data Dump: Worst Retail Sales Since COVID China’s consumer spending and investment slumped in May to levels unseen since the pandemic , exposing risks for an increasingly two-speed economy, as Bloomberg's Chang Shu and Eric Zhu noted: "The supply side remains robust , driven by faster-than-expected expansion in exports and AI tech sectors. The demand side has faltered , with consumption and private non-tech investment plummeting." Here's the details: Industrial Production Industrial production (IP) growth rose modestly to 4.5% yoy from 4.1% yoy thanks to stronger-than-expected exports , although automobile output growth remained weak

Utterly Flocked: "We-Don't-Track-People"-Firm Deploys Nationwide Network Of Warrantless Pedestrian-Tracking Cameras Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based private surveillance firm, insists its cameras are not tracking people . Yet its own systems, training materials, and expanding product line tell a different story -one of a rapidly growing, warrantless mass surveillance infrastructure that logs vehicle movements, follows pedestrians with AI, and feeds data-hungry police departments across the country. A new investigative report highlights how Flock's network - now encompassing tens of thousands of cameras - enables police to reconstruct months of travel history for any vehicle with a few clicks, no warrant required. Security

Supreme court finds Eduardo Bolsonaro tried to get sanctions put on judges trying ex-president over coup plot A panel of ⁠Brazil’s supreme court has voted ⁠to convict Eduardo Bolsonaro of courting US ⁠interference in the coup plot trial of his father, the former president Jair Bolsonaro. The panel’s four justices each backed the conviction on Tuesday and were expected to discuss the sentence later in the day. Continue reading...

Young adults and teens are being recruited through apps like Telegram and paid to carry out attacks, officials say Police investigators in Toronto have said that dozens of shootings – including one at the US consulate in March – are linked to a “multilayered” gun-for-hire network that is also responsible for attacks on synagogues around Canada’s largest city. Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, told reporters on Tuesday that young adults and teenagers are being recruited through encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp by “bad actors” and paid by the networks to carry out the attacks. Shooters are

Mark Carney says Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise office hasn’t been ‘effective’ since its 2019 setup Canada is eliminating a watchdog that investigates alleged human rights violations committed by Canadian companies operating abroad, after Mark Carney said the office hadn’t been “effective” since it was set up in 2019. The move comes as Canada faces criticism from Donald Trump ’s administration over its “unacceptable” efforts to combat forced labour. Continue reading...

Instructors hurled Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas into 40-metre abyss without attaching safety equipment A 21-year-old woman who died when two rope-jumping instructors threw her from a bridge without first harnessing her to security equipment has been buried in Brazil ’s São Paulo state. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was rope jumping on Saturday at Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge in the municipality of Limeira where tourists practise extreme sports. The young woman, who aspired to become a physical education teacher, had asked to be launched from the bridge airplane-style, with two instructors hoisting her above their shoulders as

Outpouring of public grief for Lidia ‘Taty’ Almeida, leader of group of mothers that has marched every week since 1977 The human rights activist Lidia “Taty” Almeida – who spent more than half a century searching for her son after he was forcibly disappeared by Argentina’s military junta – has died aged 95, prompting a public outpouring of grief. Almeida, 95, was the president of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, made up of women who have marched around the square outside Argentina’s presidential palace every Thursday since 1977 , demanding the return of children who were disappeared during the

Fashion house pays tribute to Chinese style with its 75th anniversary catwalk show in Shanghai “New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn’t even sit down.” For the British designer Ian Griffiths, who encountered this line in the New Yorker, it summed up why China’s biggest city was the right place to celebrate Max Mara’s 75th anniversary. “Max Mara is a product for metropolitan women, and it would be patronising to assume that a metropolitan wardrobe should be western-centric,” Griffiths said. Continue reading...

Japanese technology company at centre of Post Office IT scandal is negotiating settlement with UK government over faulty software Business live – latest updates The chair of Fujitsu, the Japanese technology firm at the centre of the Post Office IT scandal, has resigned after its board became aware of his “woman-related inappropriate conduct”. The company said on Tuesday that Hidenori Furuta had stepped down after two years in the role. Continue reading...

Country acts amid Iran war inflation pressures, but US Fed and Bank of England expected to hold rates Business live – latest updates The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war. Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75% , and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”. Continue reading...

Almost every child, including those from high-income countries, is now exposed to at least one hazard Half of the world’s children are exposed to at least three overlapping climate hazards threatening their health, education and survival, according to a Unicef report. Globally, children face increasing threats from heatwaves, storms, floods and droughts as the climate crisis worsens, with more than one billion facing at least three of these at once. Continue reading...

The closures, so employees can watch a recorded lecture, will cost the company an estimated 2.1bn won ($1.4m) in sales Starbucks Korea will simultaneously close all its stores for a mandatory history lesson, after a disastrous promotion that evoked memories of a pro-democracy massacre sparked public and political backlash . More than 2,000 stores will temporarily close at 3pm on 22 June, the company said, so staff can watch recorded lectures on modern Korean history and engage in “social sensitivity” training. The half-day closures will cost Starbucks an estimated 2.1bn won ($1.4m) in lost sales, according to data firm IGAWorks.

Tender documents show plans for store beyond the range of Chinese missiles, report says. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Greens refer Labor public housing tower redevelopment to Ombudsman The Victorian Greens have referred the state Labor government’s plan to demolish and redevelop the state’s 44 high-rise public housing towers to the state ombudsman and will use parliament today to try to expedite an investigation. The inquiry heard evidence of residents being pressured to relocate, deceived about their rights and fearful of losing their homes and communities. Those allegations are

Governor Michele Bullock delivers a strong message after the Reserve Bank holds the cash rate at 4.35%, ending a run of three rises RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank holds official cash rate at 4.35% Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It will take more than a ceasefire in the Middle East to prevent the Reserve Bank from hiking interest rates again. That was the strong message from the RBA governor, Michele Bullock , after the central bank held its cash rate at 4.35%, putting an end to a run of three increases. Continue reading...

A month after the tragedy, mystery surrounds the death of the ‘cheerful’ 25-year-old who came to Australia to pursue her dreams Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It was meant to be Sheila Chebii’s last shift as a housekeeper. For weeks, the 25-year-old international student had stripped linen, made beds and refilled towels in the rooms of a luxury high-rise hotel above central Sydney. Continue reading...

Ahead of ‘same job, same pay’ hearings, former call centre worker Nathan Brunne says pay gap is structural and widens at senior levels Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Workers at the Australian Taxation Office’s outsource call centres are paid up to 40% less than their public service counterparts on the same phone lines, according to submissions lodged ahead of landmark “same job, same pay” hearings. The pay gap, detailed by Nathan Brunne, a former worker on the ATO phone lines employed by the private equity-backed Probe Operations, widens at more senior call centre

Former Howard-era adviser says Pauline Hanson’s party is channelling Donald Trump’s health agenda Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Medical experts have blasted One Nation’s health policies, saying they do not make sense, are based on misconceptions and could cost taxpayers more money while leaving vulnerable Australians without access to care. The party has promised to withdraw Australia from the World Health Organization and to scrap regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration, rolling its “essential functions” into the health department. It has also proposed adding photo ID to Medicare cards. Continue reading...

British prime minister was left making small talk unsure if a meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy was going ahead The wait for Keir Starmer’s first session of the G7 gathering in Évian-les-Bains was undoubtedly awkward. A meeting about the future of Ukraine had been due to start at 9am but more than half an hour later, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron were nowhere to be seen. On a live Reuters feed, Starmer could be seen standing next to the leaders of Canada and Japan as they milled about making small talk. “Are they, are they having a meeting?”

Move to ChapsVision is to avoid ‘strategic dependencies’, says PM amid concern about reliance on US-controlled tools France’s domestic intelligence service is to ditch AI data tools from the US tech company Palantir in favour of a domestic provider in an effort to avoid “strategic dependency”, the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has said. “We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in ‌the digital sphere,” Lecornu posted on social media. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.” Continue reading...

Meeting was delayed over details of youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s freedom to work and study in each other’s territory The EU and the UK have announced they will hold their next summit to discuss the “reset” in relations between London and Brussels on 22 July. The summit, which will be held in Brussels, has been delayed several times, with talks over a youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s to work, travel or study in each other’s territory deadlocked in recent weeks, fuelling speculation the summit would be postponed until the autumn. Continue reading...

MEPs agree to implement deal almost 12 months after it was proposed and just days before deadline of US threat to raise tariffs The European parliament has given its final approval to implement last July’s tariff agreement with Donald Trump. Facing a threat of increased tariffs if the deal was not sanctioned by 4 July, MEPs agreed to approve the deal, with two main provisos. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president praises successful talks after Trump’s comments that ‘Russia should make a deal’ after G7 meeting … and given the delay this morning, the meeting may or may not have happened already – guess we will find out at some point during the day. in Évian-les-Bains Continue reading...

The countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday before proceeding to the next stage of talks Full report: Trump declares deal ‘all signed’ as G7 leaders try to tie loose ends You can follow all the latest developments from the G7 summit in our Europe live blog: We will be including any Iran-related news from the summit in our Middle East crisis live blog. Continue reading...

JD Vance says specifics ⁠to be ‌worked out as Senate Republicans say there are many unanswered questions Republicans have expressed tentative skepticism of the agreement Donald Trump has reached with Iran, and urged the White House to release more information. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced on Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing on Friday in Geneva, is centered around reopening the strait of Hormuz and lifting the US naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. Both Trump and JD Vance, the US vice-president, have

Any sense of relief is offset by doubts over durability of agreement and feelings of betrayal by Trump administration Middle East crisis – live updates In the rural town of Sirik, in southern Iran, temperatures over the past week have climbed to 45C (113F), and residents were still queueing to fill buckets of water days after US strikes reportedly damaged two drinking water facilities serving nearby villages. Amid the water shortages and the looming fear of war came news of a possible deal between Washington and Tehran. But for those struggling to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, the

Few analysts believe final settlement can be reached in 60 days – and even if it is, war and instability could soon return In much of the Middle East, news that the US and Iran had come to a fragile agreement was greeted with relief tempered with doubt that any deal would resolve the turbulent region’s deep problems or even prevent a future return to war. In Kuwait, a frequent target of Iranian drone strikes during the 15-week conflict, Iyad Joumma, a 37-year-old Jordanian engineer, spoke for many. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – see our full report on the US-Iran agreement and an analysis of what it means The agreement between the United ⁠States and Iran should allow for the “immediate reopening” ⁠of the ⁠Strait ​of Hormuz, EU Commission President Ursula von ⁠der Leyen said on Monday. “The priority now is ⁠its swift and full implementation ​by all parties,” ‌von der ‌Leyen said about the ‌announced deal. Continue reading...

Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week. Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Relatives of those killed on flight AI171 are still struggling to obtain answers about what happened When Sagar Patel’s mother boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June last year, she called her son as she always did before takeoff. The flight was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and was destined for Gatwick. “We always had a little traditional thing,” said Patel, a business manager from London. “Once she got on the flight, she would sit down and call me. She’d tell me: ‘Yep, I’m on the flight. See

Government urged to reconsider proposal for 1,100 Afghans, currently stranded in Qatar, who worked with US forces Dozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland. In a letter seen by Reuters, more than 80 House of Representatives members, including at least three Republicans as well as Democrats, appealed to secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to reconsider plans for 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting relocation. Continue reading...

Washington claims vessel was violating its blockade of Iranian ports and failed to comply with instructions The Indian government has voiced a “strong protest” after three Indian seafarers were killed in US military strikes against oil tankers travelling through the strait of Hormuz. US Central Command confirmed that its aircraft had fired two Hellfire missiles at the engine room of the MT Settebello as it sailed through the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Thai woman is in custody in connection with investigation after man was reportedly found dead at a hotel in Yangon A US diplomat has been found dead in Myanmar ’s largest city, and members of the diplomatic community in Yangon say a Thai woman has been detained by police in connection with the investigation. US officials in Thailand and the US embassy in Myanmar referred questions on the case to the state department, which confirmed the “death of a US government employee” assigned to the embassy in Yangon, but gave no other details. Continue reading...

Shots fired within 500 metres of vessel near Isle of Wight amid heightened tensions between London and Moscow A Russian warship fired warning shots within a few hundred metres of a British pleasure yacht sailing across the Channel on Tuesday morning amid a period of heightened tensions between London and Moscow. The rare incident took place at 11.40am more than 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight and less than 40 miles north of Normandy, France, when the yacht, identified as the private vessel Bright Future, sailed close to the Admiral Grigorovich and ignored at least one warning. Continue

Exclusive: Royal College of Nursing says 1.5m vulnerable people not getting the right care, as specialism is ‘consistently undermined’ The specialist learning-disability nurse workforce is in “absolute crisis” with the number of specialist nurses falling by a third across the UK since 2009, leaving many vulnerable adults with inadequate care, according to a report by the largest nursing union. The Royal College of Nursing review revealed that the number of learning-disability nurses employed by the NHS has fallen from 7,083 in 2009 to 4,768 in 2026. As a result of these falling numbers, 1.5 million people with learning disabilities were

General secretary of TUC calls Reform proposal ‘a smokescreen for slashing women’s rights’ UK politics live – latest updates A law proposed by Nigel Farage to “strengthen women’s rights” could cost female workers money by removing equal pay for work of equal value, unions have said. A proposal, made by Reform UK days before the Makerfield byelection, to introduce a “women and motherhood protection act” that it says will restore equality before the law has been described as “shameless and deceptive”. Continue reading...

Helen Cammock says her comments blaming wartime leader for Bengal famine were intended to create ‘dialogue’ A Turner prize-winning artist accused of telling a “barefaced lie” about Winston Churchill in a video piece installed at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has defended her work, saying it was intended to create a “dialogue” about figures in the gallery’s collection. Helen Cammock ’s 40-minute moving image piece called Persistence has been at the centre of a row about the role Churchill played in the Bengal famine of 1943. Continue reading...

Ex-defence secretary John Healey and ex-defence minister Al Carns have given resignation statements to MPs Speaking to reporters at the G7, Keir Starmer also defended the defence investment plan (DIP) draft that led to John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary last week. Starmer confirmed that Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, is getting some input before the publication of the DIP in its final version. Starmer said: The position on investment in defence is firstly that we increased last year defence spending from 2.3% to 2.6%, that’s the biggest increase since the 1980s, and that means £270bn will be spent

DoJ accuses five men of procuring weapons to attack event held for Trump’s 80th birthday on the South Lawn on Sunday Sign up for the Breaking News US email Speaking to NBC News earlier, JD Vance claimed that nuclear inspectors will “absolutely” be allowed back into Iran as part of the deal with the US . “Yes, absolutely,” Vance said. “In fact, one of the core parts of the agreement is that the [International Atomic Energy Agency] and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile, and that’s something that’s spelled out very clearly ”

Video taken after the shooting shows a woman sobbing over the pet with nearly a dozen officers standing around Police in California shot and killed a family’s pet dog wearing a New York Knicks jersey after they were called to a report of a screaming woman who turned out to be celebrating the basketball team’s championship win. Video of the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting of the two-year-old doodle named Jameson, “the sweetest boy in the world”, according to the dog’s owner, received millions of views on TikTok on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Former secretary of state says the winner of a genuine Democratic primary ‘would have beaten Donald Trump’ Joe Biden ’s decision to seek a second term was “a terrible mistake” that cost Democrats the presidency and may have permanently damaged his legacy, Hillary Clinton has declared. Speaking at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan on Monday, the former US secretary of state and 2016 Democratic nominee said Biden had reneged on a prior commitment to step aside – and that the betrayal of that promise proved catastrophic. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy, and for the country,”

One minor has been arrested in connection to Monday attack that Jersey City police said ‘appears to be targeted’ Six people in New Jersey were injured in an acid attack involving suspects on a moped. Jersey City police responded to reports that two suspects riding a moped drove past a group and threw an acidic substance at them on Monday evening, initially injuring five people. Continue reading...

San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems in ‘critically loaded state’, increasing chance of ‘big one’ quake in future Southern California’s San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems are at their highest levels of tectonic stress in 1,000 years in what scientists describe as a “critically loaded state”, according to a study published earlier this month. “Our results show that stress levels on multiple fault segments are now at or above the highest values seen in the past millennium and that the region may be capable of a large through-going rupture involving both fault systems,” Liliane Burkhard, the lead author

US law enforcement on Tuesday said it had foiled a plot to attack the White House during a crowded mixed martial arts event attended by President Donald Trump and other top officials. “Thanks to the rapid action of the FBI, our partners, and the Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” FBI Director Kash Patel announced on social media. His post included a caption of a Fox News headline reading:...

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday cutting duties on many US goods imports to fulfil the European Union’s side of a trade ‌deal struck last year, and avert a new round of tariff conflict between the world’s largest trading partners. US President Donald Trump struck a framework deal with the European Union at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last July under which the EU agreed to remove import duties on US industrial goods in return for tariffs of 15 per cent on most EU...

Is the economic decline of Europe worse than the last decades of the Qing dynasty? That’s a question posed by Luis Vassy, director of Sciences Po, one of France’s premier universities. It has caused something of a stir in Europe and China. “The European Union has seen its share of the world economy fall from 30 per cent to 17 per cent between 2008 and 2025, a span of 17 years,” he wrote in Le Grand Continent, a European current affairs publication, last week. “China covered the same distance...

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Russia should make a peace deal with Ukraine, adding that he would do what he could to end the war after a “very good” meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Group of Seven leaders at a summit in France. Trump arrived at the G7 summit in the lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains brandishing ‌a preliminary deal to end the conflict with Iran and with a renewed focus on finishing the war in Ukraine. Trump cheered his meeting with Zelensky and...

A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced a 61-year-old man to four years and five months in prison for having “ruthlessly exploited” his wife to have sex with scores of men for payment. The man was convicted of “aggravated pimping” as well as attempted rape, assault and issuing threats, as well as a minor drug offence, the court said in a statement, noting the actions took place over three years. “The district court has found that the man was the one who initiated the woman’s entry into prostitution...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that ending the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, was “the most important” issue in the peace deal with the United States announced the day before. “The important point I want to emphasise here is that in our view, there are two parties to this memorandum – one side is America and Israel, and the other side is Iran and Hezbollah,” said Araghchi during a briefing with foreign diplomats broadcast on state television. “This is perhaps...

“Overcapacity” has become the buzzword in Washington and Brussels. American and European policymakers insist China churns out far more steel, electric vehicles and green technology than it can absorb, flooding the world with subsidised goods. Yet the economic data tells a different story: of double standards, protectionist impulses and a habit of moving the goalposts. Start with steel. Western officials point to China’s massive output as proof of distortion. But China official data puts the...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, said in an interview published on Monday that Russia and Ukraine must compromise to end the war that has raged for more than four years with no end in sight. Lukashenko, whose ex-Soviet state has been improving ties with Washington, also said that ‌he would not rule out meeting US President Donald Trump. Lukashenko told Al Arabiya television that it was clear that victory on the battlefield was...

Shipowners ⁠will not resume transit through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the US-Iran deal is “material”, the CEO of Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told the Financial Times in an interview published ‌on Tuesday. The Iran war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes largely stopped shipping through the transit route for around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, along with products such as aluminium and urea. Mitsui O.S.K., one of...

The drones are grounded, tankers are reportedly moving again through the Strait of Hormuz and an electronically signed memorandum of understanding has formalised the pause. After 108 days, thousands dead and hundreds of billions of US dollars stripped from the global economy, the US-Israel war on Iran has ended – for now. Not with victory. Not with defeat. With a freeze. The United States and Israel assassinated Iran’s supreme leader and many of its top officials, then went on to degrade the...

Benjamin Netanyahu bet that his joint war alongside Donald Trump would topple Iran’s clerical rulers and bolster ⁠himself ahead of the election at home, as the architect of a US-Israeli alliance that would reshape the Middle East. Instead, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is on a collision course with Trump as the US president seeks to extricate himself from the war, with both men’s goals unmet and Israeli military operations tied down in Lebanon. For now, Israeli officials have been...

Iranian Americans streamed into the Los Angeles stadium where Iran play their first match at the 2026 World Cup on Monday, with some calling for Iranians to band together and forget politics while others bore symbols protesting the government. The team arrived at the stadium, having flown into the US on Sunday from their training base in Tijuana, ‌Mexico, touching down in Los Angeles just as a deal was announced to end the US-Iran war. They are set to play New Zealand in Group G at 6pm local...

Eight people died when a US B-52 bomber crashed and erupted into a catastrophic fire shortly after take-off at an air force base in California on Monday, officials said. The heavy bomber was on a routine testing mission with a mixture of military, government and civilian contractors on board when it came down in a huge fireball at Edwards Air Force Base, 95km (60 miles) north of Los Angeles. Footage of the aftermath of the crash, which officials said was “unsurvivable”, showed a large charred...

As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China’s firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the first part of this three-part series, we look at a new, complex EU carbon tariff system that has business owners scratching their heads. Neil Miao has been exporting metal hardware to Europe for years. But earlier...

British prosecutors have charged with sanctions contravention offences the Indian captain of an interdicted alleged Russian shadow fleet vessel seized in the Channel, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Monday. It follows British armed forces on Sunday intercepting the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos – said to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet – in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow’s war machine. British commandos boarded the ship off the southern English coast...

When it comes to the performance of real estate markets in the Asia-Pacific, Japan reigns supreme. Asia’s second largest economy is the deepest, most widely traded, and the safest market in the region. Last year, Japan accounted for 28 per cent of direct investment in Asia-Pacific commercial real estate, data from MSCI shows. The average vacancy rate for grade A offices in Tokyo was 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Rents have risen for nine straight quarters, increasing 13.2 per...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he was willing to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the United States, suggesting Putin would find such an offer “harder to refuse”. The Ukrainian leader said he made the proposal in a call with US President Donald Trump, and was waiting to see what came of it. Putin has repeatedly rejected offers for a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky to try to broker an end to more than four years of war. The Ukrainian leader said earlier that...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he intends to run in elections scheduled for later this year, as he faces domestic criticism over his wartime leadership. Netanyahu, 76, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has led his country through three years of war on multiple interconnected fronts and is currently on trial for corruption. In recent months, he has come under mounting fire from opposition leaders who accuse him of failing to achieve the war aims he set out...

Argentina’s top central banker sat down with his Chinese counterpart in Shanghai, a quiet overture towards Beijing months after Buenos Aires moved to unwind a currency lifeline that Washington had pushed it to abandon. Santiago Bausili, president of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, met People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng on the sidelines of an international symposium organised by the Bank for International Settlements and China’s central bank, according to a statement from...

California ⁠Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday accused US President Donald Trump of directing the Justice Department to undertake a politically motivated investigation of him and his wife. “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said in a ‌video statement posted to social media. “He’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.” Federal police officers in Sacramento, California, have been conducting several investigations related to the...

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, that accused rival Sam Altman’s OpenAI of stealing ‌trade secrets for chatbots. US District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, California, said xAI failed to show that OpenAI induced former xAI senior engineer Xuechen Li, a Chinese national, to divulge confidential information related to its Grok chatbot, or that OpenAI engineers knew Li might have disclosed any. Lin ‌dismissed the case with...

Hungary’s parliament approved a ⁠constitutional amendment ⁠on Monday that ⁠allows prime ministers to serve for a maximum of eight years, effectively barring former premier Viktor Orban from holding the role ‌again. Prime Minister Peter Magyar ousted Orban in an election in April after 16 years, gaining a two-thirds majority in parliament that allows his party to roll back or change legislation passed ⁠by Orban’s Fidesz, including the constitution. The amendment was a key campaign promise of...

US President Donald Trump announced plans on Monday for a major “rally” in Washington on the July 4 Independence Day, further imposing his political brand on celebrations of the United States’ 250th anniversary. The announcement comes a day after the Republican billionaire staged a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn – on what just happened to be his 80th birthday – with military honour guards and Air Force flyovers. Trump had previously posted that another event on June 24 would be...

A senior US official on Monday said that President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance had signed the memorandum of understanding electronically with Iran to formally reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the American blockade of Iranian ports. The official also claimed Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf signed the document on Tehran’s behalf. Trump “wanted to sign it personally because he wanted to show his dedication to the process and dedication to seeing this through to...

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that the bloc has verified reports that China’s military has been “training Russian military personnel to fight in Ukraine”, a development that could deepen tensions between the two sides. Kallas, speaking after chairing a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers in Luxembourg, said that the EU was “carefully assessing the implications” of the assessment, adding that the ministers had agreed to sanction several Chinese entities...

A Polish doctor has been taken into custody after 34 human fetuses were found buried in the garden of her former home, the authorities said on Monday. Magdalena H. – a 57-year-old medical pathologist with no previous criminal record – is suspected of using the fetuses to perform experiments and now faces up to 12 years in prison. Her case has whipped up a storm in traditionally Catholic Poland, with many questioning how she managed to obtain the unborn babies’ bodies in a country with some of...

Fox Corp is buying Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about US$22 billion in a bet that pairing its sports and news programming with a top TV streaming platform ‌will strengthen its position as audiences shift online. The deal, announced on Monday, gives Fox access to the more than 100 million households using Roku’s streaming platform, potentially helping the cable TV-reliant media company better target ads and reduce reliance on traditional distribution. It is Fox’s first major...

Two men were convicted on Monday of a plot last year to set fire to property linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The fires in May 2025 damaged the home Starmer moved out of when he became prime minister, as well as an apartment building he once owned a share of and destroyed his former Toyota SUV. Nobody was injured in the blazes. Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were found guilty of a conspiracy to damage property by...

US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 100 per cent tariff on French wine and champagne unless Paris removes a digital services tax on tech firms, the New York Post reported on Monday. France imposed in 2019 a three per cent levy on the revenues earned by technology firms – including American giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google parent Alphabet – within the country’s borders. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host Trump on Monday before the G7 summit gets underway...

Britain will ban children under 16 from using a range of social media apps including Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube to protect young people from harmful content and excessive screen time, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday. Starmer told a news conference that he will fight back if technology companies resist the move, and acknowledged some teens would try to find their way around a ban. But he said he is “not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children”. “Every...

The United States and Iran are set to sign an interim peace deal on Friday that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and potentially end a nearly four-month-long conflict that has killed thousands and upended the global economy. “The deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump said on social media on Sunday, which was also his 80th birthday. “I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” along with the “immediate removal” of the US...

The stepson of Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon was found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of domestic violence and other crimes and sentenced to four years in prison, after a seven-week trial that has further dented the royal family’s once picture-perfect image. Oslo District Court ruled that 29-year-old Marius Borg Hoiby, who joined the royal family when ‌his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, was guilty of two counts of rape including one in the basement of the crown prince’s...

A 21-year-old woman who died in dramatic fashion, when two rope jumping instructors threw her from a bridge without first harnessing her to security equipment, was buried on Sunday in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was going rope jumping on Saturday at Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge in the municipality of Limeira where tourists practice extreme sports. The young woman, who aspired to become a physical education teacher, had asked to be launched from the...

The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Gaza war has surpassed 73,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, as Israeli military operations continue despite a stalled and fragile ceasefire in place since October. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire, the health ministry said on Sunday. Five Israeli soldiers have...

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. 5. How to say ‘tomato sauce’ in Cantonese? Miss Hong Kong hopeful sparks debate 2. Chinese team flags life-threatening weakness in Nasa’s Artemis programme 3. Hong Kong intern doctor released on bail, returns to hospital amid police probe 4. China’s universities cut 12,000 ‘obsolete’ degrees amid...

This article was published on June 13, 1991. Thousands evacuated after massive explosion in Philippines Volcano’s plume soars 25km by Michael Bociurkiw in San Narciso Theresita Santiago and her neighbours dealt with the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines yesterday (June 12, 1991) the only way they could: they grabbed their children and a few belongings and walked 20 kilometres to sanctuary in Olongapo City. “I’m feeling very nervous right now,” Mrs Santiago said, as her...

Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s biggest cities in a nighttime bombardment that killed at least 11 people and set fire to a renowned religious site, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials said on Monday. The attacks on the capital, Kyiv, and the second-largest city, Kharkiv, came after Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke separately by phone with US President Donald Trump on Sunday. The exchange suggests Washington has not...

I’m still reeling from last week’s tragedy in Hong Kong: a mother and her 12-year-old daughter lost their lives to suicide within hours of each other reportedly following an argument about “education problems”. While the causes of suicide are complex, the incident should prompt reflection within the education system. For years, many have tried to point out the impact academic pressure without adequate support has on students’ mental health. We have also noted the effect on teachers and parents....

The United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war and will hold an official signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on social media early on Monday. “The Deal with ‌the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly after Sharif made his announcement. The agreement was struck despite an Israeli strike on Lebanon on Sunday that drew criticism from both Iran and...

British anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson ⁠said he was ⁠detained at Heathrow ⁠Airport on Saturday and had his phone seized, after a week when he posted heavily online about racist and anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland. Robinson, whose real ‌name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said on social media he was held on Saturday evening for around three hours under the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act. “My phone has been seized by the police,” he wrote. “Please help ⁠kick off my legal fund...

A plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers planning to spend a sunny afternoon skydiving crashed on Sunday in Missouri, killing all aboard, authorities said. Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement that troopers were at the crash site, helping the Butler Police Department & Bates County Sheriff’s Office. The crash happened near Butler Memorial Airport. The small town of Butler has a population of around 4,300 people and is roughly 105km (65 miles) south of Kansas City. Missouri Highway...

US ⁠Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on Sunday, his spokesman said, but there was no immediate information about why he was there or his prognosis. McConnell, 84, was the longest-serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role while finishing his final term, which ends in January. “Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care,” spokesman David Popp said in a statement without elaboration. It was not immediately...

At least six people died in Brazil on Sunday after two helicopters collided in western Rio de Janeiro, firefighters said. The helicopters crashed into the car park of an electric car showroom, igniting a fire that engulfed at least 20 cars. A statement from firefighters said initial reports pointed to a mid-air collision, adding “six fatalities have been confirmed, all were crew members of the aircraft involved in the accident”. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said there were “foreign...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky each held phone calls with US President Donald Trump on Sunday, as Trump marked his 80th birthday and the war in Ukraine remained a flashpoint ahead of this week’s G7 summit. Putin’s call with Trump lasted just under an hour, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters. On Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasised the need to end hostilities and stated his readiness to influence European...

Protesters in Geneva clashed with police, set a car on fire and smashed the windows of a bank on Sunday to show their discontent with the G7 group of major advanced economies on the eve of a summit in nearby France to be attended by the group’s leaders including US President Donald Trump. Environmentalists and feminists joined foes of imperialism, defenders of independent media, supporters of Palestinian rights and others in a lakeside park in Geneva for a march across the Swiss city. A boat...

Four G.O.P. senators crossed party lines to back the resolution to direct President Trump to halt the war in Iran and seek authorization from Congress, but their support was not enough.

We considered every plausible theory of his death, both official and otherwise, seeking out the most persuasive arguments and evidence for each.

Here is what we know about the sexual predator whose secrets spurred an international reckoning over money, power and complicity. Check back for updates.

The yogurt is not special. Let’s just get that out of the way now.

Eric Swalwell resigned in April as he faced sexual assault allegations, prompting a special election to fill out his term. Two Democrats topped the field in a regular primary election this month.

If the former president had “passed the torch” and allowed a competitive Democratic primary in 2024, she said in a new interview, the winner “would have beaten Donald Trump.”

The 94-page conspiracy indictment was filed as federal prosecutors in Minnesota had trouble sustaining many criminal cases filed against Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters.

Special education programs and the civil rights office will be moved out of the Education Department, the most aggressive move yet by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency.

Charging documents outlined an ambitious plan involving explosive-laden drones and rifles, but left less clear that the conspirators had the means to carry it out.

Federal prosecutors told a judge that they were deciding whether to seek the death penalty if Rahmanullah Lakanwal is convicted of killing a National Guard specialist.

In a new memoir, Mr. Vance recalls an “unsettling” meeting with Vatican officials on immigration policy and disavows his infamous disparagement of some Democrats as “childless cat ladies.”

The vice president also talked to Megyn Kelly on Tuesday about critics of the new Iran cease-fire and his presidential ambition.

Health workers have warned that the outbreak, already one of the worst in decades, could take as long as a year to contain if infection rates do not flatten.

In its first few days of trading, Elon Musk’s newly listed rocket maker has become one of the world’s most valuable companies.

The department cited national security concerns, saying Elon Musk’s company had played a crucial role in the Iran war. It also argued it has the authority to stop environmental lawsuits brought by citizens.

A slew of new apps focus on connecting people who love to work out.

Think you’re a morning person, a night owl or something in between? Take our “chronotype” quiz to find out.

The A.I. wars are here.

In a contest of wills, the hard men of Tehran prevailed over the vain man of Washington.

Six transgender residents claimed that the bathroom ban, the most restrictive in the nation, violated their constitutional rights.