Minimalist News

Indonesia Remains The World's Most Generous Nation Started in 2012, Giving Tuesday, which takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a day which aims to encourage people to do good. Described as "a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity", the goal of Giving Tuesday is to encourage people to donate time or money or to use their voice for a good cause. While generosity may seem like a complicated concept to quantify, for over a decade now, the Charities Aid Foundation has been providing an overview of generosity around the world with its World Giving Index. This international study examines populations

Pro-Israel Forces Intensify Effort To Control American Discourse Via Brian McGlinchey at Stark Realities Across the American political spectrum, support for the State of Israel is steadily eroding. With the long-running, staggeringly expensive redistribution of American wealth and weapons to one of the world’s most prosperous countries under unprecedented threat, Israel’s advocates inside the United States are growing increasingly desperate to suppress the facts, opinions, questions and imagery that are causing this sea change.  Pro-Israel forces have long worked to limit and shape US discourse to Israel’s advantage. However, the intensity and novelty of what’s taking place in 2025 — from the government-coerced transfer of a social media

Americans Worry Most Among Developed Nations About Food Security Concerning nations surveyed in Statista’s Consumer Insights, Americans were among those most worried about food and water security. Indeed, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz reports, while for most European nations, worry about the topic peaked during the coronavirus pandemic and the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, concern has remained elevated in the United States into 2025. You will find more infographics at Statista Food and water supplies were not considered a particular issue among developed countries for a long time. But the data illustrates how that is starting to change. As many as 1 in 5 respondents in France

Out Of Sight: Following The Money Trail Of Missing Child Border Crossers Authored by James Varney via RealClearInvestigations, On the campaign trail, Vice President JD Vance repeatedly chastised the Biden administration for allegedly losing track of some 320,000 minors who had crossed the border unaccompanied. “Our government, under the policies of Kamala Harris, has lost thousands of innocent children to sex trafficking, to drug trafficking, to human trafficking,” Vance said. One year later, the fate of most of those children remains unknown. While the Trump administration has all but stopped the crush of migrants that occurred during Biden’s term, neither the government nor the

Embarrassing: Canada Very Belatedly Removes Syria's Ruling HTS From Terror List The fact that Syria's head of state got his start working for ISIS, and was a founding member of Syrian al-Qaeda, continues to produce embarrassing headlines.  One full year after former president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown and fled to Moscow, Canada has very belatedly removed President Ahmed al-Sharaa's militia group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to a Friday statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry. As part of the new action, Syria has also been removed from its list of state sponsors of terrorism (a list the country

Zelensky 'Systematically Sabotaged' Ukraine Anti-Corruption Efforts, NYT Concludes  Via The Cradle Over the past four years, the Ukrainian government "systematically sabotaged" oversight of the country's state-owned companies and weapons procurement processes, "allowing graft to flourish," a freshly published New York Times investigation has revealed. The investigation details how the government of Volodymyr Zelensky sidelined outside experts from the US and EU serving on advisory boards responsible for monitoring spending, appointing executives, and preventing corruption. EPA/Shutterstock "President Volodymyr Zelensky's administration has stacked boards with loyalists, left seats empty, or stalled them from being set up at all. Leaders in Kiev even rewrote company charters to limit oversight, keeping

Where Are America's Dry Counties? While the U.S. ended federal Prohibition in 1933, local restrictions on alcohol still persist across the country to this day. As Visual Capitalist shows in the map below, based on work by Wikipedia user Mr. Matté, many counties remain “dry,” banning the sale of alcohol entirely, or “moist,” allowing only limited sales. WHERE ALCOHOL IS STILL RESTRICTED The data, crowdsourced from local government sites and media reports, reveals that alcohol restrictions are concentrated in the South, particularly in states like Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Arkansas stands out the most in the map above, with a patchwork of red and orange

General Flynn: Strategic Assessment Of Marxist-Style Color Revolution Targeting America Authored by Michael T. Flynn LTG USA (RET), The American people have just taken their first full breath after surviving an attempt to smother the Republic through a Marxist-inspired cultural campaign carried out largely through the administrative state, media, academia, and politicized elements of the national security bureaucracy. Most citizens did not fully perceive it while it was happening. Many in the intelligence community either passively accepted it or actively furthered it. The architects of this project are not finished, but their effort has been damaged and delayed. It is only by

CDC Advisory Panel Votes To End Hepatitis B Shot Recommendation For Newborns The vaccine industrial complex is likely fuming this morning after a federal advisory panel voted to end the long-standing recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B shot at birth. The vote marks a major victory for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" effort to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule amid questions over the exponential rise in childhood autism. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8 to 3 to advise that mothers who test negative for hepatitis B should decide with their doctor "when or

21 States Are At Risk Of Losing SNAP Funding Amid Fraud Investigation Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times, The federal government said it would withhold Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (SNAP) funds for states that do not report user data.  The news came from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins earlier this week, following months of requests and investigations into instances of fraud within the program.  Here’s what to know about the change to the nutrition program. THE ANNOUNCEMENT  Rollins made the announcement on Dec. 2 during a White House cabinet meeting, saying that states that have not complied with

Newsom Pleads With Dems To Be More "Culturally Normal" Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, California Governor Gavin Newsom is dishing out advice to his fellow Democrats: pretend to be normal while he plots a White House run. Newsom, who’s been eyeing a 2028 presidential bid after loser Kamala Harris’ electoral wipeout, took to the stage at The New York Times DealBook Summit in New York City, urging his party to ditch the judgmental elitism that’s alienated everyday Americans. “I think there’s a broader narrative that [Democrats] ought to address, that is, we have to be more culturally normal,” Newsom said, adding “We have

Ken Griffin Dumps Last Penthouse In Crime-Ridden Chicago Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is on the verge of dumping his final piece of real estate in crime-ridden, far-left–controlled Chicago, and he hasn't looked back since moving Citadel's global headquarters to Miami. Bloomberg reports that Griffin's penthouse at 800 N. Michigan Avenue, located in Park Tower, one of the premier luxury residential buildings along Chicago's Magnificent Mile, is under contract for $12.5 million. The price reflects a $3.25 million cut from July, yet remains well above the $6.9 million he paid during the Dot-Com bubble. The sale of the penthouse marks the end of Griffin's

Texas Law Allowing Ivermectin To Be Sold Over The Counter Goes Into Effect Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times, A Texas law allowing ivermectin to be sold over the counter went into effect Dec. 4, but rollout appears slow as pharmacies wrestle with how to proceed. House Bill 25, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in August, allows pharmacies to sell the antiviral drug without a prescription. Ivermectin gained popularity for off-label use during the COVID-19 pandemic, which influenced support and criticism of the measure. The drug was discovered in the 1970s and developed to treat parasites in humans and

The GRANITE Act: How Congress Can Strike Back Against Foreign Censors Authored by Preston Byrne, Please find below the draft text of the GRANITE Act, a bill I have offered to New Hampshire legislators for consideration for enactment in that state. It could serve as a template for a U.S. fightback against global censorship, if adapted for federal use. It doesn’t really require a ton of explanation. The gist is simple: the only real defense a foreign censor has from injunctive relief in a U.S. court, as we saw with Ofcom’s recent fine letter to 4chan and the strategy employed by Trump Media and Technology Group’s

Generational Betrayal: HUD Reveals Biden Gave Illegal Aliens FHA-Backed Mortgages HUD Secretary Scott Turner told Fox Business on Friday that illegal aliens received federally backed mortgages during the Biden–Harris regime years. Turner characterized this as a significant policy failure by the previous administration and evidence of what he called misplaced priorities that favored illegals over American homebuyers. "You know, during the Biden Administration, there were over 12 million illegal aliens that came over the border, straining our housing supply and making the costs go up," Turner told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. He continued, "And so we worked with Secretary Noem at DHS,

Nearly Two-Thirds Of Americans Say College Degree Isn't Worth The Cost: Poll Authored by Gabrielle Temaat via The College Fix, Nearly two-thirds of Americans don’t believe that a college degree is worth its price tag, according to a recent NBC News survey.   Sixty-three percent of registered voters said a four-year degree is “not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off,” according to the poll.  Meanwhile, only 33 percent said a degree is “worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over

Journal Retracts 'Ghost Written' Monsanto Study Claiming Glyphosate Is Safe Over the past year massive scandals involving academic research have come under the microscope, after dedicated researchers uncovered rigged studies that made it through peer-review with flying colors, and are now being retracted.  On Friday, the Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology journal announced that it has retracted a review, safety evaluation, and risk assessment of the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, after it emerged that Monsanto was heavily involved in its production.  "This decision has been made after careful consideration of the COPE guidelines and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the authorship and content of this article and in

Impeachment Mania Returns In Time For The Midterm Elections Authored by Jonathan Turley, The military has long had a saying that “when you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” When it comes to impeachment power, Democrats have long acted as if every problem is a high crime and misdemeanor. After two impeachments against President Donald Trump (including what I labeled as an infamous “snap impeachment“), Democratic politicians and pundits are back calling for the impeachment of President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) was the latest to prepare articles of impeachment. He is demanding the removal of

Southern Oscillation Index Plunge Triggers "Big Winter Storm Signal," Meteorologist Warns Folks across the Mid-Atlantic, especially in the Washington, DC-Baltimore metro area, woke up to a rare December winter scene: a few inches of fresh snow on the ground. With a solid cold pattern locked in through the middle of the month, this early-season snow is something the region hasn't seen this early in the cold season in many years. > #Snow falling on Friday at the Capitol in #DC! @capitalweather @KaitlynMcGrath pic.twitter.com/8vDSz7nSJ3 > > — Jeanne Stuart McVey (@RiverGirl707) December 5, 2025 With below-normal temperatures forecast across the Mid-Atlantic through at least mid-month -

Is A Backdoor Gold Standard Coming? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, For decades, I’ve been vexed over a monetary issue. How can we transition from the present fiat money system to a sound-money standard like we once had in the United States and the world? Clearly the gold standard was superior whereas we now have a fiat standard that has mired the world in debt and big government. A central-bank digital currency with programmable debt-based money and omnipresent surveillance is the dystopian nightmare of which many dream. But this would pile calamity on top of disaster. What we really need is the

Although people reported ‘things falling off shelves and walls’, no injuries or structural damage were reported A powerful, magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck a remote area near the border between Alaska and the Canadian territory of Yukon on Saturday. There was no tsunami warning, and officials said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck about 230 miles (370km) north-west of Juneau, Alaska, and 155 miles west of Whitehorse, Yukon. Continue reading...

The South American country facing a huge US military buildup has almost a fifth of known global reserves * Visual guide to US military presence in the Caribbean Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, says the real motive behind the massive US military buildup in the Caribbean is oil: his country has the largest proven reserves in the world. The US state department denies this, insisting that the airstrikes on boats that have killed more than 80 people and the vast military deployment off South America are part of a campaign against drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Footage seen by US senators shows two unarmed, shirtless men struggling to stay afloat before they were killed, sources say * Experts say Trump’s ‘drug boat’ war is legally shaky Two men who survived a US airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean clung to the wreckage for an hour before they were killed in a second attack, according to a video of the episode shown to senators in Washington. The men were shirtless, unarmed and carried no visible radio or other communications equipment. They also appeared to have no idea what had just hit them, or that the

Rinaldo Nazzaro says detention of suspected Base members in Spain justifies ‘resistance … by any means necessary’ After Spanish police and Europol’s counter-terrorism section arrested three suspected members of the Base – a globally proscribed neo-Nazi terrorist group – in the eastern province of Castellón, its American leader living in Russia was defiant and signaled further actions. In a text message to the Guardian, Rinaldo Nazzaro called the arrests another “example of political persecution” by world governments that are “further justifying our resistance to its hegemonic rule by any means necessary”. Continue reading...

Donald Trump has in recent months turned his attention to ousting Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. But the US president and his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, are under scrutiny over military strikes on suspected drug boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Tom Phillips about why people are accusing Trump of war crimes Archive: 60 Minutes, CBS News, ABC News, PBS Newshour, C-SPAN, Al Jazeera English, CBS Miami, City News, CBC, Reuters Continue reading...

Canadian expert David Vigneault warns of China’s ‘industrial-strength’ attempts to steal new technologies Hostile spy agencies are now as focused on infiltrating western universities and companies as they are on doing so to governments, according to the former head of Canada’s intelligence service. David Vigneault warned that a recent “industrial-scale” attempt by China to steal new technologies showed the need for increased vigilance from academics. Continue reading...

Beijing security agency accuses international journalists of disregarding facts and smearing government Beijing’s security agency in Hong Kong has summoned international journalists to inform them it will not tolerate “trouble-making”, following critical coverage of the deadly apartment complex fire that has left the territory reeling. Senior reporters from several media outlets operating in the city were called to the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was set up by Beijing in 2020. Continue reading...

The writer of the Tony award-nominated Slave Play remains in custody after authorities say they found MDMA in his bag American actor and playwright Jeremy O Harris, known for the Tony-nominated Slave Play, was arrested last month at an airport in Japan on suspicion of attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the country, local authorities said late on Thursday. Harris, 36, was stopped on 16 November at Naha airport on Okinawa island after a customs officer discovered 0.78 grams of crystal containing the synthetic drug MDMA in his tote bag, an Okinawa regional customs spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Six days after alleged incident, evidence emerges without requiring medical intervention, New Zealand police say Police say they have recovered a Fabergé egg pendant from a man accused of swallowing the item in a jewellery story. New Zealand police have spent six days monitoring every bowel movement of the suspect, a spokesperson said, and the NZ$33,000 ($19,000) James Bond Octopussy pendant was recovered from his gastrointestinal tract on Thursday night by natural means, without requiring medical intervention. Continue reading...

The surprise visitor waddled around the pub during what’s known as ‘silly season’ where seals pop up in unexpected places On a wet, lazy Sunday evening a baby fur seal waddled into a craft beer bar in Richmond, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. Accustomed to seeing animals in the pet-friendly bar, co-owner Bella Evans initially assumed the visitor was a dog before she took a closer look. “Everyone was in shock,” Evans said. “Oh my gosh. What do we do? What’s going on?” Continue reading...

Calls for regulation of pharmacies and transparency around who is sponsoring products being registered with the TGA * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Prof Geraldine Moses was speaking to a nurse who told her something concerning: patients with kidney failure were taking “iron supplements” that contained almost no iron. Patients on kidney dialysis often need iron supplements because the disease reduces the body’s ability to produce red blood cells, leading to iron deficiency and anaemia. Always see your GP for testing and advice because other medications, absorption issues and underlying conditions all affect how much iron is

Education program sponsored by Shell’s Queensland Gas Company is ‘climate obstruction dressed up as education’, advocacy group says * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Queensland Museum has been accused of misleading teachers and children about the root cause of the climate crisis through a multimillion-dollar education partnership with one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies. Shell’s Queensland Gas Company has been sponsoring the museum’s Future Makers learning program since 2015 and produces teaching materials as well as running free professional development courses for teachers. But a review of the program’s climate change materials carried out

Most active fires contained on Sunday as disaster payments announced after at least 12 homes in Koolewong and four at Bulahdelah were destroyed * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has warned of a “difficult” summer bushfire season ahead, as a natural disaster was declared in parts of New South Wales and crews battling more than 70 fires gained the upper hand on Sunday. The most destructive blaze – an out-of-control bushfire at Koolewong, not far from built-up areas of the Central

This blog is now closed. * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Albanese has also defended a $100k expense for communications minister Anika Wells, a staffer and a public servant to join the prime minister and foreign minister Penny Wong in New York for a United Nations meeting. Anika Wells was doing her job as the communications minister who is in charge of this world-leading, world-leading legislation, passed with bipartisan support, to give credit to Peter Dutton when he was opposition leader. And it was an important event. And it wasn’t just the event there, it was

Communications minister also faces scrutiny over taxpayer-funded family trip to Thredbo * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese has defended his decision to sign off on a $100,000 trip to New York City for Anika Wells and two others to spruik Australia’s social media ban to global leaders at the UN general assembly. The minister’s travel entitlements have come under intense scrutiny in the past week with the Nine newspapers reporting on Sunday that Wells’ family went on a skiing trip to Thredbo in June

Eldest son of Donald Trump makes speculative comments during tirade against Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president’s oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference. In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine’s “corrupt” rich had fled their country leaving “what they believed to be the peasant class” to fight the war. Continue reading...

Authorities say strain of virus that has killed wild boars in Catalonia is one often used for experiments in secure facilities Spanish authorities investigating the African swine fever outbreak in Catalonia are looking into the possibility that the disease may have leaked from a research facility and are focusing on five nearby laboratories as potential sources. Thirteen cases of the fever have been confirmed in wild boars in the countryside outside Barcelona since 28 November, prompting Spain to scramble to contain the outbreak before it becomes a serious threat to its pork export industry, which is worth €8.8bn (£7.7bn) a year. Continue reading...

As peace hopes falter, infantry soldiers face more long deployments risking their lives against Russian attacks For almost all of their 62-day deployment on the frontline east of Pokrovske, Bohdan and Ivan hid – first in a village shop, then, after a deadly firefight with Russian soldiers, in a tiny basement where the infantrymen from Ukraine’s 31st Brigade had to survive seven more weeks. Food, water, cigarettes and other supplies were airlifted in by a friendly drone, their toilet was their 3 sq metre room, their nearest comrades 200 metres or so away. Their only hope was to remain underground, because they

Positive tone after Florida talks with Ukrainian president heading to London Street to see Starmer, Macron and Merz. What we know on day 1,383 Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz will also be present for talks on guaranteeing Ukraine’s postwar security Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Downing Street on Monday for an in-person meeting with Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz in a show of support for Ukraine. Starmer will use the meeting with the leaders from Ukraine, France and Germany to discuss the continuing talks between US and Ukrainian officials aimed at finding an agreement on guaranteeing Ukraine’s postwar security. Continue reading...

Judiciary says a criminal case has been opened after online images showed a number of unveiled female competitors Judicial authorities in Iran have arrested two organisers of a marathon held on an island off the country’s southern coast after images emerged showing women taking part in the race without hijabs. The arrests on Saturday come as the authorities face increasing criticism from ultraconservatives who accuse them of inadequate efforts to enforce a mandatory headscarf law for women amid fears of growing western influence on the Islamic republic. Continue reading...

Mediators of delicate truce say troop removal and deployment of international force crucial to second phase Qatar and Egypt, the guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called on Saturday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilisation force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement. The measures were spelt out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted fighting, though the warring parties have yet to agree on how to move forward from the deal’s first phase. Continue reading...

Ahmed al-Sharaa says Israel justifies aggression in the name of security amid airstrikes on southern Syria Syria’s interim president has accused Israel of fighting “ghosts” and exporting its crises to other countries after the war in Gaza. President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s comments come amid persistent airstrikes and incursions by the Israeli military into southern Syria. Continue reading...

Husam Zomlot says protest by activists waving Israeli flags and union jacks was ‘flagrant breach of diplomatic law’ The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called for “comprehensive protection” after his embassy was targeted by masked men waving Israeli flags and union jacks. Husam Zomlot made the call after the group posed at the entrance to the embassy, in Hammersmith, west London, last Saturday. The building was defaced with stickers such as “I love the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”, according to images captured by security cameras. Continue reading...

The term ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion life is returning to normal’ for Palestinians squeezed into the remaining 42% of their land behind Israel’s ‘yellow line’ When Jumaa and Fadi Abu Assi went to look for firewood their parents thought they would be safe. They were just young boys, aged nine and 10 and, after all, a ceasefire had been declared in Gaza. Their mother, Hala Abu Assi, was making tea in the family’s tent in Khan Younis when she heard an explosion, a missile fired by an Israeli drone. She ran to the scene – but it was too late. Continue

Fire broke out at midnight in Arpora with victims mostly kitchen workers, according to state’s chief minister At least 25 people have been killed in a fire at a nightclub in Goa, an Indian state popular for its nightlife and tourism. Several tourists were among the 25 dead in the fire, which broke out at about midnight at Birch by Romeo Lane, a popular restaurant, cocktail bar and club in Arpora, a district of north Goa. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here Russia and India will reshape their defence ties to take account of New Delhi’s push for self-reliance, the two countries said in a joint statement after a summit between president Putin and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. “In response to India’s aspirations for self-reliance, the partnership is currently being reoriented toward joint research and development, as well as the production of advanced defence platforms,” the statement said. Continue reading...

Narendra Modi says energy security is ‘pillar of the India-Russia partnership’ as two leaders meet in Delhi Vladimir Putin has told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, that Russia is ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance to the US as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”. The statement, made on Friday after the annual India-Russia summit, appeared to be directed at western countries – particularly the US – that have attempted to pressure New Delhi into scaling back its ties to Moscow. Continue reading...

Delhi visit gives Russian leader a chance to reduce Moscow’s isolation but both countries need each other to negotiate Trump’s US and a powerful China When Vladimir Putin last set foot in India almost exactly four years ago, the world order looked materially different. At that visit – lasting just five hours due to the Covid pandemic – Putin and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, discussed economic and military cooperation and reaffirmed their special relationship. Three months later, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine would turn him into a global pariah, isolating the Kremlin from the world and restricting Putin’s international travel. Continue

Inaugural prize expected to be handed to Donald Trump but ‘process’ for choosing future winners to be proposed by controversial tycoon’s committee It was the timing that set off the first alarm bells. With Donald Trump brooding over missing out on the Nobel peace prize, and shortly before Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, Fifa, was due to meet the US president in Miami, an announcement was made. In a press release and a post on his personal Instagram account last month, Infantino said Fifa would launch its very own peace prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals

Sultana says Labour party has ‘left the scene’ as she says she ‘gets on really well’ with Greens’ Polanski Rounding up his interview, Trevor Phillips asked Helen Whately about the Guardian’s investigation into Nigel Farage’s alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour as a teenager towards fellow Dulwich college pupils. She suggested that the Reform leader appears not to be giving “straight answers” when asked about his past behaviour, and ruled out any pact with Farage’s party at the next general election. “He needs to give people a straight answer,” Whately said. The number one reason why people, young people, are becoming Neet – not

About 350,000 work and training places in care, construction and hospitality available but ‘sanctions’ may apply if ‘neets’ refuse offers Young unemployed people will be offered training or job opportunities in construction, care and hospitality as part of a UK government scheme, but could have their benefits cut if they do not take up offers. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, announced on Sunday that 350,000 new training or workplace opportunities would be offered to young people on universal credit, but added there would be “sanctions” for claimants who did not engage. Continue reading...

Actor speaks out over controversy around American Eagle advert in the summer that critics say flirted with eugenics The actor Sydney Sweeney has said she should have addressed the controversy surrounding her American Eagle jeans advert, which was accused by critics of flirting with eugenics, saying not doing so “widened the divide” between people. Sweeney, who made her name in HBO’s Euphoria and has since become a leading Hollywood star, told People magazine she regretted staying silent during the row, in which Donald Trump at one point intervened. Continue reading...

PM gives clearest indication yet of comeback, calling former deputy ‘the best social mobility story’ the country has seen * UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer has predicted that Angela Rayner will return to the cabinet, calling his former deputy, who resigned in September after underpaying stamp duty on a property purchase, “hugely talented”. In an interview with the Observer, the prime minister described Rayner, who left school aged 16 without any qualifications, as “the best social mobility story this country has ever seen”. Continue reading...

Kishwer Falkner says Reform leader should apologise to people who say he targeted them at school, even if he rejects being deliberately racist Nigel Farage should offer an unreserved apology to people who allege he targeted them with racist or antisemitic behaviour while at school, the outgoing head of the government’s equalities watchdog has said. Kishwer Falkner, a crossbench peer who has just completed five years as chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that even if the Reform UK leader rejected the allegation that he had been deliberately racist, he could nonetheless apologise to people who said they had

Man charged with attempted murder less than four months after Iryna Zarutska was killed in unrelated knife attack Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee riding one of the city’s trains was killed in an unrelated knife attack. Oscar Solarzano, 33, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes stemming from the Friday afternoon attack in which he wielded a large knife, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a news release. Continue reading...

Make America Healthy Again leaders call for Lee Zeldin to quit for favoring chemical companies over US families Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement leaders have put out a petition calling for Donald Trump to fire Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin, who, since being appointed in late January, has quickly moved to undo toxic chemical regulations and fast-track pesticide approvals. The petition represents the latest salvo in a growing Maha-Maga feud over the Trump administration’s policies around toxic chemicals and pesticides. Trump campaigned on cleaning up the nation’s water and food supply, a priority for the Robert F Kennedy-led Maha

Conservatives warned of a mass exodus if the democratic socialist won, but experts, and property data, paint a very different picture The warnings were stark. If Zohran Mamdani were to win the New York City mayoral election, his plans to raise taxes – slightly – on the city’s wealthiest residents would cause millionaires to bolt en masse, decamping to lower-tax states such as Florida and Texas. The New York Post, a conservative tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, told readers on an almost daily basis through October that New York would effectively become a ghost town under Mamdani’s mayoralty, a propaganda campaign that

National guard shooting prompts extraordinary outburst and targeting of people from startling range of countries When the history of Donald Trump’s second presidency is written, 26 November 2025 may well go down as a particular landmark. On the eve of Thanksgiving, a lone gunman shot two West Virginia national guards, Sarah Beckstrom, and Andrew Wolfe, as they were on patrol outside Washington DC’s Farragut West metro station, a short walk from the White House – and thereby opened the floodgates to a wave of racist and anti-immigrant invective that seemed extreme even for Trump. Continue reading...

Heather Jones, now 33, went public with allegations after Robert Sullivan continued to work with children The woman who publicly alleged that she was 17 when a longtime Roman Catholic priest in Alabama successfully offered her financial support in exchange for sex and other forms of private companionship – recently prompting him to resign from the clergy – says “there is no real winner in this situation”. In her first remarks since Robert “Bob” Sullivan’s self-imposed removal from the priesthood was announced by his church superiors, Heather Jones wrote in a statement that the only thing she gained was “truth finally coming

The fireworks between Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are now Instagram official, following months of speculation and steamy sightings. The 41-year-old pop star, who recently ended her engagement to Orlando Bloom, shared a selfie on Saturday with the former Canadian prime minister, showing them cuddled up beneath the fall foliage in Japan. “Tokyo times on tour and more,” wrote Perry, who performed just outside the country’s capital on Wednesday as part of the Asian leg of her Lifetimes Tour. The...

A drone attack by the Sudanese paramilitary forces hit a kindergarten in south-central Sudan, killing 50 people, including 33 children, a doctors’ group said. Paramedics on the scene in the town of Kalogi in South Kordofan state were targeted in “a second unexpected attack”, Sudan Doctors’ Network said in a statement late on Friday. Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians in Sudan reported in a statement on Saturday the second strike on paramedics treating survivors...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Saturday that he was sending a business delegation to Russia in the coming days in preparation for the end of the Ukraine war. Orban addressed Budapest’s foreign relations with Moscow and also Washington at an exclusive rally in the central city of Kecskemet, ahead of legislative elections in the spring. The delegation’s mission would focus on economic cooperation, particularly in a post-war landscape that could see Russia not cut out from the...

Cop30 concluded with confident declarations from global fashion brands: upgraded net-zero road maps, new partnerships under the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and bold promises to “accelerate supply-chain decarbonisation”. However, the summit revealed something the industry continues to avoid. Fashion’s climate ambition is still being shaped in the West, while the responsibility for delivering it falls almost entirely on Asia. This imbalance has not shifted. Instead, the UN...

For the first time in a decade, hunters armed with rifles and crossbows are fanning out across Florida’s swamps and flatwoods to legally hunt the Florida black bear, over the vocal opposition of critics. The state-sanctioned hunt began on Saturday, after drawing more than 160,000 applications for a far more limited number of hunting permits, including from opponents who are trying to reduce the number of bears killed in this year’s hunt, the state’s first since 2015. The Florida Fish and...

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he and his negotiators who are discussing a US-led plan for Ukraine had a “very substantive and constructive” call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. “Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace,” Zelensky said on Telegram as the third day of the talks were to be held in Florida. “We agreed on the next steps and the format of the talks with America,” he added. Zelensky, who...

A mass shooting carried out on Saturday by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital left at least 11 people dead, police said. The victims included three children aged three, 12 and 16. Another 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital, according to a statement from the South African Police Service. Police did not give details on the ages of those who were injured or their conditions. The shooting happened at a bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west...

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to go to Norway to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize, defying a warning from Caracas that she would be a fugitive if she did so. The head of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, on Saturday said that Machado – who lives in hiding in her country – promised him she would make the ceremony, set to take place in Oslo on Wednesday. “I was in contact with Machado last night [Friday] and she confirms that she will be in Oslo for the...

Four protesters have been arrested after custard and apple crumble was thrown at a display case containing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Take Back Power, which describes itself as a new non-violent civil-resistance group, claimed it was behind the act. Footage shared by the group showed one demonstrator removing the large foil tray of crumble from a bag and then slamming it against the glass protecting the Imperial State Crown. Another then repeatedly poured a tub of bright yellow...

The nearly two-month-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will not be complete until Israeli troops withdraw from the Palestinian territory under a peace plan backed by Washington and the United Nations, mediator Qatar’s prime minister has said. “Now we are at the critical moment ... A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, [and] there is stability back in Gaza,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday. Sheikh...

An overnight exchange of gunfire and shelling at a major Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing killed four civilians and one soldier, Afghan officials said on Saturday, the latest flare-up of fighting between the two countries despite a ceasefire since deadly clashes in October. Five other civilians were wounded, an Afghan government spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said in a video statement. The local hospital at the Pakistani border town of Chaman said three people suffered minor injuries during...

When Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago, a 26-year-old soldier known as Monka did not see a combat role she could do. But that changed as technology reshaped the battlefield and opened new paths. Last year, she joined the military as a pilot of short-range, first-person view, or FPV, drones after giving up a job managing a restaurant abroad and returning home to Ukraine to serve. Her shift is part of a larger trend of more women joining Ukraine’s military in combat roles, a...

Stock prices are nervously high, bond and real estate prices are under downward pressure, cryptocurrency assets have sustained falls and global debt is at record levels. One common factor behind these coinciding and worrying trends is that much of the world is living on excess credit. Payment is now due. Another is how markets have bloated as financial systems fail to properly channel savings into good investments. This all suggests the coming correction in financial markets will be more...

Newly released surveillance footage from the US hotel where American actress Tara Reid claims she was drugged last month shows the actress downing more drinks than she recalls. Reid, 50, maintains she was drugged on November 23 at the DoubleTree Hotel by the Chicago O’Hare Airport, insisting she had just one drink before being wheeled out on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Hotel security video, published by TMZ on Friday, shows a bartender bringing a glass of liquid to the American Pie...

The French military used jammers as several suspected drones flew over a closely guarded base housing nuclear ballistic submarines, prosecutors said on Friday. It was the latest in a series of mysterious drone flights over airports and sensitive military and industrial sites across Europe. Three-and-a-half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is growing concern that such disruption could be part of hybrid war tactics by Moscow against the European Union, which has backed Kyiv. No...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at an annual summit and agreed to diversify mutual economic ties, as the United States presses India to revise its decades-old partnership with Russia. The 23rd Russia-India Summit comes at a pivotal moment as the US pushes for a Ukraine peace deal while seeking global cooperation. It will test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine...

A young man from Australia with a huge social media following has given an 88-year-old US supermarket worker the gift of retirement. Ed Bambas from Michigan was presented with an oversized cheque for US$1.7 million on Friday – the result of an extraordinary online fundraising drive. “No, no,” Bambas said, wiping away tears in front of reporters. “Thank you. Oh, my God.” Sam Weidenhofer, 22, from Melbourne, is using his online influence to spread kindness – and financial support – during a visit...

Jeff Rowe grinned with satisfaction when the dashboard of his John Deere combine harvester showed the yield of the first run on his family’s farm during this year’s harvest: 253 bushels per acre, equivalent to 13.8 tonnes of corn per hectare. The yield on the 100-acre Schubert parcel was the highest in many years, said Rowe, the CEO of Syngenta Group and the son of the owners of Rowe Farm, Dean and Carol. Located in the corn belt of Illinois state in the US Midwest, the farm used Syngenta’s...

A protective shield at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in war-torn Ukraine, built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster, can no longer perform its main safety function due to drone damage, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday, a strike Ukraine has attributed to Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure completed in 2019 found the drone impact in February, three years into Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, had...

As sure as night follows day, you can always count on the big Western media outlets to politicise anything bad that happens in Hong Kong or on the mainland. So with the horrific Tai Po fire, you can be sure those platforms will go to town with that approach. The real cause of the fatal fire? Well, of course, it’s all about democracy and freedom, or rather the lack of their Western versions in China. The same old “democracy” explains everything, which turns every ignorant foreign commentator into...

US President Donald Trump met with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to discuss trade issues on Friday after the leaders hosted the 2026 World Cup draw at Washington’s storied Kennedy Centre. The White House said Trump held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after the star-studded event, but gave no details on their discussions. Canadian media said the meeting lasted for 45 minutes and the leaders spoke on their own, with no staff present. Trump...

The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide the legality of US President Donald Trump’s directive to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States, a contentious part of his efforts to curb immigration and a step that would alter how a 19th-century constitutional provision has long been understood. The justices took up a Justice Department appeal of a lower court’s ruling that blocked Trump’s executive order telling US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the...

For much of the modern era, power was easy to recognise. It belonged to the states that could win wars decisively, enforce sanctions effectively and impose political outcomes far beyond their borders. That definition no longer works. The world is moving towards what scholars have described as a form of “distributed multipolarity”, a landscape in which no single actor – not the United States, not China, not Russia – can fully shape events in the way great powers once expected. Tools once seen as...

The White House released a national security blueprint on Friday, marking a sweeping assertion of US influence in the Americas. The framework pledges to prevent non-Western powers from expanding their foothold across the Western Hemisphere, a clear reference to China’s growing presence in the region. In US strategic parlance, the “Western Hemisphere” refers broadly to the Americas, a geopolitical space long regarded as a place Washington has sway over. This belief harks back to the Monroe...

A US federal judge on Friday ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the investigation in Florida of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department requested the unsealing of the transcripts after US President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring the public release of all government records regarding Epstein. Grand jury proceedings are generally kept secret and a previous Justice Department request to unseal the transcripts from Epstein’s Florida case...

Frank Gehry, who designed some of the most imaginative buildings ever constructed and achieved a level of worldwide acclaim seldom afforded any architect, has died. He was 96. Gehry died on Friday in his home in Santa Monica after a brief respiratory illness, said Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partners. Gehry won every major prize that architecture has to offer. His fascination with modern pop art led to the creation of some of the most wildly imaginative buildings ever constructed and...

US President Donald Trump was awarded the new Fifa peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw – giving the soccer spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial tournament even more of a Trumpian flair. Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, had been heavily favoured to win the newly created Fifa prize. He and Fifa president Gianni Infantino are close allies, and Infantino had made it clear that he thought Trump should have won the Nobel for his efforts to broker a...

The European Union hit Elon Musk’s X with a €120 million (US$140 million) fine on Friday for breaking its digital rules, in a move that risks a fresh clash with US President Donald Trump’s administration. The high-profile probe into the social media platform was seen as a test of the EU’s resolve to police Big Tech. US Vice-President J.D. Vance fired a warning against “attacking” US firms through “censorship” before the penalty was even made public. Imposing the first fine under its powerful...

A group of vaccine advisers on Friday scrapped a long-standing recommendation that all US children receive the hepatitis B shot at birth, a major policy win for health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr that disease experts say will reverse decades of public health gains. The committee voted to keep the birth dose only for infants whose mothers test positive for the virus, replacing the 1991 universal recommendation that has protected all children from hepatitis B infections, which can lead to...

Export controls may have been the economic weapon of choice in 2025, but the Dutch minister at the centre of the Nexperia crisis has admitted he was blindsided by Beijing when it blocked the company’s chips from leaving China. His concession raises fresh questions over how much planning went into the decision to reach for a Cold War-era law to intervene in the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker in September, a move that triggered a supply chain shock in the global automotive...

Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s TV, film studios and streaming division for US$72 billion, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood’s most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer. The agreement, announced on Friday, follows a weeks-long bidding war in which Netflix offered nearly US$28-a-share, eclipsing Paramount Skydance’s close to US$24 bid for the whole of Warner Bros Discovery, including the cable TV assets slated for a spin-off. Buying the owner of...

Mother Mary wearing a respirator mask to protect herself from tear gas. Baby Jesus with zip-tied hands, wrapped in a thin blanket that looks like aluminium foil. Masked centurions with sunglasses and green vests labelled “ICE”. This is how the Lake Street Church of Evanston in suburban Chicago chose to assemble its nativity scene for the Christmas season. The church and its leaders have been vocal critics of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz and expressed a message with their...

US President Donald Trump’s administration said in a long-awaited new strategy document on Friday, that the United States will shift from its historic global role towards increasing dominance in Latin America and vigorously fighting migration. The national security paper, meant to flesh out Trump’s norms-shattering “America First” world view, signals a sharp reorientation from long-standing US calls to refocus on Asia, although it still identifies China as a top competitor. The strategy also...

We should call it the “Neom factor”: the force that transforms reasonable aggressive ambition into hallucinogenic fantasyland. It glared out at me last week in a Financial Times headline: “Three ‘Heathrows’ of growth: the unstoppable rise of Middle East airports”. In short, Dubai, Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi in aggregate have airport expansion plans to lift passenger capacity almost threefold to around 750 million a year over the coming decades. In the words of Paul Griffiths, chief...

New investigative reports into a series of high-profile and costly US Navy mishaps during a US-led campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels reveal that the most intense running sea battle that the military service has faced since World War II took a toll on ships and personnel. The four reports released on Thursday cover a “friendly fire” incident in December 2024 that saw the cruiser USS Gettysburg shoot at two fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, downing one, as well as...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Japan’s Sanae Takaichi moves to ease weeks of tensions with China over the Taiwan Strait After weeks of turmoil in relations with China, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sought to dial down tensions with Beijing over a...

The US Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts for the 2026 midterm elections, boosting the hopes of President Donald Trump’s Republicans to retain control of the House of Representatives. The push by Texas - which carves out five more Republican-friendly districts and came at the behest of Trump - kicked off a series of similar efforts in states around the country. The decision by the conservative-dominated high court stayed a lower ruling which had said...

An Irish navy ship spotted up to five drones operating near the flight path of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s aircraft as he arrived for a state visit to Ireland on Monday, local media reported on Thursday. The sighting triggered a major security alert amid fears it was an attempt to interfere with the flight path, the Irish Times reported. It quoted unnamed sources as saying the aircraft, which arrived slightly early, was not in any danger. The Ukrainian delegation arrived late on...

US President Donald Trump praised the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda for their courage as they signed a deal on Thursday aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Congo and opening the region’s critical mineral reserves to the US government and American companies. The moment offered Trump – who has repeatedly and with a measure of exaggeration boasted of brokering peace in some of the world’s most entrenched conflicts – another chance to tout himself as a dealmaker...

Honduran centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla on Thursday alleged fraud in the country’s highly contested presidential vote after his Trump-backed rival Nasry Asfura pulled narrowly past him overnight. Nasralla, in a post on X, said the screen displaying the vote data went blank at 3.24am and alleged “an algorithm changed the data”, giving the higher tally to Asfura after Nasralla had been leading the vote count since Tuesday. The results are being updated on the electoral body’s website. The...

A US Navy admiral commanding the US military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinises the campaign that killed two survivors. Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct an investigation after a report that he ordered the follow-on...

With their domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. In early November, the chairman of one of China’s top construction machinery makers was spotted touring potential factory sites in Piracicaba, a city in...

US President Donald Trump could decide next year to withdraw from the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), Politico reported on Thursday, citing US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. “The president’s view is he only wants deals that are a good deal. The reason why we built a review period into USMCA was in case we needed to revise it, review it or exit it,” Greer told Politico’s White House bureau chief Dasha Burns in a podcast episode that will be broadcast on Friday. Greer...

A bipartisan group of US senators, including prominent Republican China hawk Tom Cotton, on Thursday unveiled a bill that would block the Trump administration from loosening rules that restrict Beijing’s access to artificial intelligence chips for two-and-a-half years. The bill, known as the SAFE CHIPS Act, was filed by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Democrat Chris Coons. It would require the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, to deny any license requests for buyers in...

China said on Wednesday that it is working “with all parties” to prevent a military escalation in the Caribbean as the United States intensifies operations near Venezuela, the latest sign of Beijing’s growing diplomatic and symbolic support for President Nicolas Maduro. Asked to comment on the Venezuelan crisis, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters that Beijing “opposes any action that violates the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter or undermines the...

At an appearance in California, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was noncommittal about releasing the full video of a U.S. military attack on a boat in the Caribbean.

Through layers of intermediaries, stablecoins can be moved, swapped and mixed into pools of other funds in ways that are difficult to trace, experts say.

The Democratic president and his top advisers rejected recommendations that could have eased the border crisis that helped return Donald Trump to the White House.

A New York Times review of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s actions on immigration showed that they created an opening for a more aggressive Trump administration agenda.

Netflix’s blockbuster deal to buy Warner Bros., including HBO, is the latest twist in a rivalry that has reshaped the entertainment industry.

The cash-and-stock deal would give the world’s largest paid streaming service expansive power over theater owners and entertainment-industry unions.

The government is pushing hard to raise turnout in an election overshadowed by a deadly fire and public anger over safety lapses and official accountability.

The arrest was part of a crackdown on speech that the authorities say is inciting hatred of the government. Critics say officials are silencing calls for accountability.

The authorities accused “some foreign media” of smearing the government’s response to a fire at a high-rise complex, saying: “Do not say you have not been warned.”

In 2020, a Chinese virologist fled to the United States, aided by allies of President Trump who sought to promote her unproven theories about the origins of Covid-19. Her husband still can’t find her.

A former secretary of homeland security on the illegality of Trump’s boat strikes.

It may be tempting to memory hole what happened in Gaza. That would only compound the mistake of ignoring, or rationalizing, an intolerable reality.

An expert from Wirecutter helps Morning readers with their trickiest holiday gift searches.

President Trump backed Nasry Asfura days before the Nov. 30 election and denounced his opponents. In a close race, that has potentially tipped the scales.

A dusty town in the parched northeast has become the nation’s show business destination. But climate change and technology are posing new challenges there.

Frenzied bidding pushed the polarizing F.P. Journe timepiece into near-record territory despite one dealer calling the design “goofy.”