Minimalist News

Rockefeller Foundation Partners With MrBeast To Target Youth With "Next-Gen" Propaganda Dr. Rajiv J. Shah - former USAID administrator and onetime head of agricultural development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, now president of the Rockefeller Foundation - announced a "next-gen storytelling" partnership with the world's top YouTube creator, MrBeast. "Proud to announce our partnership with @BeastPhilanthr, bringing together a storied history of improving billions of lives with next-gen storytelling that inspires action. With @MrBeast, we'll show that when kindness goes viral, big change is possible," Shah wrote on X, accompanied by a video featuring him and MrBeast founder Jimmy Donaldson. >

How Tucker Carlson Put Arab Christians On America's Map Authored by Kamal Alam via Al Majalla US President Donald Trump’s inner circle and his wider MAGA (‘Make America Great Again’) movement can at times appear to be tearing themselves apart over the thorny issue of US support for Israel, which some of his supporters think has committed genocide in Gaza since October 2023. Trump's unquestioning support for Israel is increasingly causing him political problems, yet those problems are not coming from the progressive or liberal left, as might be expected, but from the heart of the United States' deep south, home to millions

Katy Perry Gets $2 Million After Suing Dying 85-Year-Old Veteran Over Real Estate Dispute Pop superstar Katy Perry has won $2 million in a protracted property battle by filing a lawsuit against 85-year-old Army veteran Carl Westcott, who is now bedridden with Huntington's disease and receiving hospice care. Perry's legal action, detailed in court filings reviewed by the New York Post, sought more than $8 million in damages from Westcott, including $3.25 million for lost rental income during the litigation, $2.2 million for property renovations and $3 million in attorney fees. The dispute centers on an eight-bedroom estate in the celebrity enclave

"I Have A Bridge To Sell You" - Pirro Unleashes On Left's "Nonsense" Vetting Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Former U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro exploded on Fox News Wednesday, eviscerating the left for mass-importing unvetted Third Worlders under Biden—labeling claims that vetting was robust as “nonsense.” Pirro blasted, “If you think there was a vetting, I have a BRIDGE to sell you!”  Referring to the untold numbers of Afghans that entered the U.S., she further raged “90K people…what do we do? Call the FBI in Afghanistan and say, ‘Gee, do you have anything on this guy?’” > 🚨 HOLY CRAP! US Attorney Jeanine Pirro

Israeli Forces Accused Of Executing Unarmed Palestinians After They Surrendered Members of the Israeli border police have been accused of executing two unarmed Palestinian men after they surrendered in the West Bank town of Jenin. In the incident from Thursday caught on camera, two men can be seen emerging from a doorway of what appears to be a warehouse, lifting their shirts, before they were shot dead by the Israelis.  > Two Palestinians were executed in Jenin after surrendering. None of the other soldiers flinched. Business as usual. The IDF rushed to announce an investigation, of course, it was caught on camera. pic.twitter.com/TrvaOfJQqV > >

Starbucks Workers' Strike Expands To 83 Cities On Black Friday Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Black Friday shoppers looking forward to a pumpkin spice latte or caramel frappuccino break may be out of luck depending on where they live. A Nov. 28 Starbucks Workers United statement revealed that 2,500 Starbucks union baristas at 120 Starbucks in 85 U.S. cities joined the picket lines against the coffee superstar. Starbucks workers walk a picket line as they go on strike outside a Starbucks store in the Brooklyn borough in New York City on Nov. 13, 2025. According to the Starbucks

"We Are Everywhere" - Fort Bragg Psychological Warfare Group Posts Chilling Video Authored by Mark Price via Military.com, A secretive Fort Bragg operation that specializes in influencing people’s thoughts has released a hypnotic recruitment video that is laced with hidden meanings and strange images. Known as the 4th Psychological Operations-Airborne, or 4th PSYOP, the group specializes in “using the power of the mind to persuade opinion and discourse” among the nation’s enemies. The 1:17-second clip, posted Nov. 19 on social media, is a string of baffling clips, including old cartoons, masked figures hiding in plain sight and a group of people staring blankly at the viewer over the

Is Trump's Third World Immigration Ban A Precursor To The Insurrection Act? Over the Thanksgiving holiday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping plans to tighten immigration rules, including a suspension on migration from “Third World Countries” and cancellation of all federal benefits and subsidies to “noncitizens” in the country.  The decision comes after a terror attack (the shooting of two National Guardsmen) involving an Afghan migrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, admitted to the US under a program for Afghan refugees launched by Joe Biden in 2021 (Operation Allies Welcome). However, the Trump Admin approved the man's asylum application in 2025 based on his aid to CIA operations

Israeli Troops Suffer Rare Casualties In Brazen Ground Raid On Syrian Town Israel on Friday launched another unprovoked major attack on Syria, which has killed at least 13 people, including children - and additionally some 25 have been reported injured. In this instance, the assault on the southern Syrian town Beit Jinn was a rare ground raid by Israeli forces, likely accompanied by air and artillery support. IDF/TOI: Troops of the 55th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade detain a suspect in the southern Syrian village of Beit Jinn, early November 28, 2025.  "The Israeli military said six soldiers were wounded, three of them severely, by militant fire during

From Oil War To 'Major Non-NATO Ally': Trump's Extraordinary Saudi Pivot Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com, * Trump designates Saudi Arabia a “major non-NATO ally,” marking a dramatic turnaround from years of strained relations marked by an oil price war and diplomatic freezes. * In return, Washington expects Saudi Arabia to align more closely with U.S. interests. * The U.S. expects Riyadh to help keep prices within a “Trump Oil Price Range” of roughly $40–80 per barrel. From the beginning of Donald Trump’s first term in office in 2017 to the start of his second term earlier this year, the relationship

"Got To Be CIA Front": Internet Sleuths Scour Web For Clues On DC Afghan Shooter The ex-CIA-linked Afghan national who killed one National Guard soldier and critically injured another just blocks from the White House has set off alarm bells across the nation and in national security circles. The attack - likely soon to be designated as terrorism - highlights how nation-killing open borders, reckless Afghan intake policies, and broader migrant inflows from hellish third worlds, combined with the Democratic Party's suicidal empathy, have worked in unison to flood the country with tens of millions of poorly vetted people. Former CIA targeting officer

Trump Moves To "Terminate" All Of Biden's Autopen'd Orders Discussions about the topic of former President Biden's increasing use of autopen during his demantia-ridden term have grown louder in recent months amid whistleblowers, reports, and legal challenges. May - Biden Autopen Use Increased As Cognitive Decline Deepened, Analysis Finds Sep - Top Biden Aide Releases Kraken On Autopen, Hunter's Role In Pardongate, And Joe's Malfunctioning Brain Oct - House Oversight Committee Says Biden Autopen Pardons Are Null And Void and most recently: Nov - Timeline: The Autopen Debate And it appears that all of this has finally triggered President Trump into action, writing on TruthSocial that: > "Any document signed by

Sanctioned Russia-Bound Oil Tanker At Risk Of Sinking After Mine Strike Two tankers which were traversing waters north of Turkey's Black Sea coast are believed to have suffered damaged from sea mines placed in regional waters related to the Ukraine war. A suezmax and an aframax tanker sanctioned by the West for trading in Russia both caught fire nearly simultaneously on Friday, according to Bloomberg and regional outlets.  Smoke is seen near the Russia-bound tanker off the coast of Turkey, via DHA/Daily Sabah At least one of the tankers is on fire after the apparent blasts occurred about 30 nautical miles north of Turkey’s

Wall Street Warns Of A Deepening Oil Glut In 2026 Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com, * Reuters’ monthly poll shows analysts expect WTI to average $59 in 2026 and Brent $62.23 amid persistent oversupply. * Executives warn U.S. shale will stagnate or decline if WTI stays in the $50–$60 range. * Goldman Sachs forecasts even lower prices and says the oil market won’t rebalance until 2027 after a final major supply wave. Oversupplied markets will keep oil prices under pressure next year, and the U.S. benchmark will average below $60 per barrel, the monthly Reuters poll of analysts and economists showed on Friday. The

Coup-Coup Birds: The DC Blob Is Cornered Authored by James Howard Kunstler, > “Literally everything the left did, every line they crossed and rule they broke, all came back to slap them in the face.” > > - Insurrection Barbie on “X” Indeed, you have a lot to be thankful for this week of humble national gratitude — for instance, the explosive new revelations as to just exactly how US elections have been rigged, and how, it now appears, Mr. Trump and his people, are prepared to go mad-dog on the sinister forces behind it. It all unspooled this Thanksgiving week, which is always a

Zelensky's Closest, Most-Powerful Aide Resigns After Office Raided By Anti-Corruption Agents Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, has submitted his resignation - the highest level official to fall amid the massive graft probe which has brought rare international embarrassment on the Zelensky government. As a reminder, Andrew Korybko recently opined that Yermak's removal could prompt some progress in peace talks: > He’s Zelensky’s powerbroker so his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power, thus pressuring him into peace, especially if his warmongering grey cardinal is no longer

What Is Going On With The Economy? Authored by Ben Shapiro via The Epoch Times, The fate of the Trump administration - and perhaps Republicans in Congress - is tethered to how Americans feel about the economy. And right now, it’s hard to find anyone who can say with confidence what the hell is going on. Nov. 20 offered a fresh reminder of the chaos. As The Wall Street Journal noted, “Stocks surrendered gains and closed sharply lower after a whirlwind day of trading that began after Nvidia posted strong results. The Nasdaq composite led indexes lower after being up on the day more

Holiday Spending To Hit Record High Despite Economic Doubts In The US While the holiday season just started with Thanksgiving this Thursday, American consumer spending for the end of the year is set to reach a record high. As Statista's Tristan Gaudiat reports, according to data from the National Retail Federation, the average per capita budget for the 2025 winter holidays (Nov. 1 - Dec. 31) is expected to exceed $1,000, a 4 percent increase from 2024 ($976). As the infographic shows, consumer spending during other major seasonal events was also on the rise this year, from a 2 percent increase (Mother's Day, Valentine's

AI Gospel Ghost Tops Charts: 'Solomon Ray' Unmasked As Another Fake Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, A “Mississippi-made soul singer” named Solomon Ray has stormed to No. 1 on gospel charts—only to be quickly exposed as a fully AI-generated phantom, sparking outrage from Christian artists who decry the “spiritless” impostor as a crutch robbing music of divine inspiration.  Ray’s ascent—hitting No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard gospel charts—prompted swift backlash from flesh-and-blood artists.  Christian music artist Forrest Frank lamented, “At minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it. So I think that’s really weird to be opening up your spirit

Trump And House GOP Are Headed For A Clash Over Obamacare Subsidies Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of December, and it now looks like the big battle over their future won’t be between Democrats and the GOP, but between the White House and House Republicans. Trump has said that while he doesn’t want to make the subsidies permanent, that "some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. It's a disaster." The White House proposal caps eligibility at 700% of the federal poverty line and kills off zero-premium plans

Dawn Butler leads calls for humanitarian visas and fee waivers for vulnerable relatives of UK nationals affected by storm British MPs have joined campaigners calling for more aid and humanitarian visas for Jamaicans to enter the UK after Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of the country, plunging hundreds of thousands of people into a humanitarian crisis. The UK has pledged £7.5m emergency funds to Jamaica and other islands affected by the hurricane, but many argue that the country has a moral obligation to do more for former Caribbean colonies. Continue reading...

Hernández was convicted in 2024 of accepting millions in bribes to protect cocaine shipments Donald Trump has said he will grand a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who is serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US on drug trafficking and weapons charges. “I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said Friday in a post on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Student ‘heartbroken’ after being sent to Honduras while trying to travel from Boston to Texas, attorney says A college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was instead deported to Honduras in violation of a court order, according to her attorney. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, had already passed through security at Boston Logan international airport on 20 November when she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass, said attorney Todd Pomerleau. The Babson College student was then detained by immigration officials and within two days sent to Texas and then Honduras,

Bill 9 would outlaw prayer and face coverings in public institutions, sparking fears it targets Muslims in Canada Quebec says it will intensify its crackdown on public displays of religion in a sweeping new law that critics say pushes Canadian provinces into private spaces and disproportionately affects Muslims. Bill 9, introduced by the governing Coalition Avenir Québec on Thursday, bans prayer in public institutions, including in colleges and universities. It also bans communal prayer on public roads and in parks, with the threat of fines of C$1,125 for groups in contravention of the prohibition. Short public events with prior approval are exempt. Continue

The Canadian PM’s breakthrough oil deal with Alberta cost him a cabinet minister and will still face stiff opposition When the people of the Haida nation won a decades-long battle for recognition that an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia in Canada was rightfully theirs, it was a long overdue victory. The unprecedented deal with the provincial and the federal governments meant the Haida no longer had to prove that they had Aboriginal title to the land of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai, “the islands at the boundary of the world.” Continue reading...

More than 300 people killed on Indonesia’s Sumatra island with 162 reported dead across Thailand The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in south-east Asia reportedly climbed past 460 on Saturday as clean-up and search-and-rescue operations got under way in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Heavy monsoon rain overwhelmed swathes of the three countries this week, killing hundreds and leaving thousands stranded, many on rooftops awaiting rescue. Continue reading...

Families are combing hospitals hoping to find their loved ones as about 200 people still listed as missing, and at least 128 killed An outpouring of grief was set to sweep Hong Kong on Saturday as an official, three-day mourning period began with a moment of silence for the 128 people killed in one of the city’s deadliest fires. City leader John Lee, along with senior ministers and dozens of top civil servants, stood in silence for three minutes on Saturday morning outside the government headquarters, where the flags of China and Hong Kong were flown at half-mast. Continue reading...

About 200 people still unaccounted for, say officials, as fire chief confirms no alarms went off in any of the eight towers * Anger swells in Hong Kong over deadliest fire in more than 70 years * How the Hong Kong fire unfolded – visual guide The death toll from the Hong Kong apartment complex fire that began on Wednesday has risen to 128 with as many as 200 missing, officials have said, as rescue operations were declared over. Firefighters had been combing through the high-rises on Friday, attempting to find anyone alive after the massive fire that spread to seven of

Volunteers that emerged during the pro-democracy protests regroup to help those affected by the blaze Hong Kong’s grassroots community groups have sprung into action to help coordinate and deliver aid to the survivors of the Wang Fuk Court fire, a catastrophic blaze that is confirmed to have killed at least 128 people, with hundreds still missing. Restaurants, churches and gyms in the Tai Po area, where the Wang Fuk Court housing estate is located, have been turned into temporary shelters for people in need of clothes, food and information as a result of the tragedy. Continue reading...

Incident north of Tokyo comes after a record 13 deaths from bear attacks in Japan since the start of April A man has been attacked by a bear in a public toilet in Japan, local media reported on Friday – the latest in a record-breaking wave of attacks this autumn, including those in populated areas. The victim, a 69-year-old security guard, told police he had noticed the bear, which was 1-1.5 metres long, peering inside as he was about to leave the building in Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, in the early hours of Friday, Kyodo news agency and broadcaster NHK reported. Continue

The PM becomes the first Australian leader to celebrate a wedding while in office with a private ceremony followed by a reception at his official residence, the Lodge * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has married his partner, Jodie Haydon, in Canberra, making him the first Australian leader to tie the knot in office. The ceremony took place on Saturday afternoon at Albanese’s official residence, the Lodge, witnessed by a small group of close family and friends, including Albanese’s son, Nathan, and Haydon’s parents, Bill and Pauline. Continue reading...

Immediate software update ordered by Airbus after US mid-air incident causes airport disruption across Australia and New Zealand * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Jetstar has grounded some of its Airbus fleet in Australia and cancelled domestic and international flights after the aerospace manufacturer ordered software changes to thousands of its A320 planes following a mid-air incident. Ninety Jetstar flights were affected on Saturday with disruption expected to continue until Sunday, the airline’s head of flying operations, Tyrone Simes, told reporters at Melbourne airport. Continue reading...

After Jeffrey Epstein abuse victim died intestate, sons reject claim that documents presented by her lawyer and carer represent her final intentions * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An unsigned will has emerged as the crux of the battle over the estate of Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Details of the document surfaced on Friday as hearings began in Western Australia’s supreme court, where her sons, her longtime lawyer and her former carer are all vying for control of the assets. Continue reading...

Liberal MP has declared conflict of interest with Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club, of which he is a patron * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An exclusive gun club with links to the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie was awarded three government grants worth a total of almost $20,000 after being nominated by his office. Hastie has declared a conflict of interest with the Port Bouvard Pistol and Small Bore Rifle Club. He is a patron, and has competed there at least twice. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UNSW researchers found protection in products usually marketed as ‘natural’ is also contained in cheaper alternatives * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian consumers are paying a premium for “mineral” sunscreens that contain almost identical chemicals to cheaper varieties, new testing has revealed. The University of New South Wales’ school of chemistry tested 10 sunscreens, including Invisible Zinc children’s sunscreen and a Naked Sundays skin tint that retails for $58 – both marketed as mineral sunscreens. Continue reading...

Washington’s Putin-appeasing plan for peace in Ukraine has failed, but many heard death knell sounded for European reliance on US protection Kaja Kallas, the European Union foreign policy chief, asked her officials this week to dig up the number of times Russia had – in its various guises – invaded other states in the 20th and 21st centuries. The answer that came back was 19 states, on 33 occasions. Kallas, the former Estonian prime minister, was not just indulging in some form of historical mathematics. She was seeking to make a point that lies at the heart of the dispute between

Ukrainian president announces departure of Andriy Yermak, who was leading peace talks with US Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s powerful chief of staff and closest ally, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies conducted searches at his apartment earlier today. The abrupt departure of the aide, who had been leading the latest round of the delicate peace negotiations with the US, was announced by the Ukrainian president in a late-afternoon social media video on Friday. Continue reading...

‘I want there to be no rumours and speculation,’ Zelenskyy says as Andriy Yermak resigns The Commission also totally rejected dismissed Russia’s criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “illegitimate” leader of Ukraine, after Vladimir Putin suggested yesterday that was a technical reason he couldn’t agree a peace deal with Zelenskyy. “President Zelensky is the democratically elected president, by the Ukrainian people, of Ukraine,” a commission spokesperson said in response, somewhat mockingly adding that Putin seems to have “some difficulties in recognising the democratically elected president of his neighbour country, Ukraine.” “Let me stress the fight against corruption is a key element for a country

Trio given leave to stay in their abandoned convent near Salzburg until further notice, church officials say Three octogenarian nuns who gained a global following after breaking out of their care home and moving back to their abandoned convent near Salzburg have been given leave to stay in the nunnery “until further notice” – on condition they stay off social media, church officials have said. The rebel sisters – Bernadette, 88, Regina, 86, and Rita, 82, all former teachers at the school adjacent to their convent – broke back into their old home of Goldenstein Castle in Elsbethen in September in defiance

UK had been pushing to join €150bn Safe fund, a loan scheme that is part of bloc’s drive to rearm Europe Keir Starmer’s attempt to reset relations with the EU have suffered a major blow, after negotiations for the UK to join the EU’s flagship €150bn (£131bn) defence fund collapsed. The UK had been pushing to join the EU’s Security Action for Europe (Safe) fund, a low-interest loan scheme that is part of the EU’s drive to boost defence spending by €800bn and rearm the continent, in response to the growing threat from Russia and cooling relations between Donald Trump’s US and

Account of visit to Gaza by French professor describes Israeli military attacks on security personnel protecting convoys A historian who spent more than a month in Gaza at the turn of the year says he saw “utterly convincing” evidence that Israel supported looters who attacked aid convoys during the conflict. Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East studies at France’s prestigious Sciences Po university, entered Gaza in December where he was hosted by an international humanitarian organisation in the southern coastal zone of al-Mawasi. Continue reading...

Locked away in prison for decades, Marwan Barghouti is a longstanding advocate for a two-state solution A global campaign is being launched to secure the release of Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian prisoner seen by many as the best hope of leading a future Palestinian state, as negotiations continue in the context of the current Gaza ceasefire. The campaign, being led by Barghouti’s West Bank-based family with UK civil society support, is seeking to put the 66-year-old’s fate at the centre of the next stage of the ceasefire. Continue reading...

Far-right minister defends killing of two men who appeared to have given themselves up, saying ‘terrorists must die’ Video of an Israeli military raid in the West Bank shows soldiers summarily executing two Palestinians they had detained seconds earlier. The shooting on Thursday evening, which was also witnessed by journalists close to the scene, is under justice ministry review, but has already been defended by Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared that “terrorists must die”. Continue reading...

The NGO’s chief says last month’s ceasefire ‘risks creating a dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal’ Amnesty International has said Israel is “still committing genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire agreed last month. The fragile, US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 10 October, after two years of war. Continue reading...

Leo welcomed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he begins six-day itinerary that will also include visit to Lebanon A new world war is being fought “piecemeal” and is endangering the future of humanity, Pope Leo has warned, as he arrived in Turkey for his first foreign trip since becoming head of the Catholic church. Speaking in Ankara, where he was welcomed on Thursday by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Leo said the world was experiencing “a heightened level of conflict on the global level, fuelled by prevailing strategies of economic and military power”. Continue reading...

Another 130 missing after heavy rains from Cyclone Ditwah while almost 44,000 evacuated to temporary shelters amid rescue operations Torrential rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah have killed 123 people across Sri Lanka so far, with another 130 still missing, the Disaster Management Centre (DCM) said on Saturday. Director general Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations were underway with 43,995 people moved to state-run welfare centres after their homes were destroyed in the week-long heavy rains. Continue reading...

Temperatures dip to -8.5C in Poland and 250mm of rain falls in 24-hour period across Sri Lanka Temperatures plummeted this week across the eastern half of Europe, with the Alps dipping as low as -20C and to -8.5°C in the Polish town of Zakopane in the Tatras Mountains. Heavy snow also affected other parts of Poland with 15-20cm (about 6-8in) of snow falling in much of the central swathe of the country and more than 40cm in the south towards the mountains. Continue reading...

Human rights monitors say it is not safe to return, citing reports of ‘serious crimes in the run-up to elections’ Myanmar’s junta applauded the Trump administration on Wednesday for halting a scheme that protected its citizens from deportation from the US back to their war-racked homeland. About 4,000 Myanmar citizens are living in the US with temporary protected status (TPS), which shields foreign nationals from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work. Continue reading...

The strikes come a day after a suicide attack on a security compound in Pakistan’s Peshawar city Pakistan strikes on neighbouring Afghanistan have killed 10 people – among them nine children – a Taliban government spokesperson has said, a day after a suicide attack on a security compound in Pakistan’s Peshawar city. “The Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of a local civilian resident ... As a result, nine children (five boys and four girls) and one woman were martyred” in Khost province, Zabihullah Mujahid said on X. Continue reading...

India’s prime minister among those paying tribute to celebrated actor whose career spanned six decades Dharmendra, one of the most enduring stars of India’s Bollywood cinema, has died at the age of 89. Born Dharam Singh Deol, but later known as Dharmendra, he rose to fame in the 1960s and became one of the most celebrated and popular stars of Indian cinema in a career that spanned six decades. Continue reading...

Staff at human rights body said to be ‘desperate for regime change’ over inertia after court’s legal definition of a woman The ongoing impasse over guidance from the UK’s human rights watchdog on access to single-sex spaces is distracting from other pressing issues, including the rise of the far right, insiders have told the Guardian. Some members of staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are described as “desperate for regime change” ahead of the new chair, Mary-Ann Stephenson, taking up her post in December. Continue reading...

Venues promoting destruction as stress relief are appearing around the UK but experts – and our correspondent – are unsure If you find it hard to count to 10 when anger bubbles up, a new trend offers a more hands-on approach. Rage rooms are cropping up across the UK, allowing punters to smash seven bells out of old TVs, plates and furniture. Such pay-to-destroy ventures are thought to have originated in Japan in 2008, but have since gone global. In the UK alone venues can be found in locations from Birmingham to Brighton, with many promoting destruction as a stress-relieving experience. Continue reading...

Move, which is part of crackdown on costs, comes after it emerged Home Office spends £15.8m a year on service Asylum seekers will be banned from taking taxis to medical appointments after it was revealed the Home Office spends about £15.8m a year on the service. From February they will have to use alternative transport such as buses, no matter how urgent their medical needs. Continue reading...

Nathan Law says ‘moral obligation’ to Hongkongers should extend to anyone fleeing from political persecution An exiled leader of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong has said the UK government risks reneging on a commitment to people from its former colony in its shake-up of legal immigration routes. Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong politician who arrived in the UK in 2020 and has a bounty on his head, said that the government should reflect on its moral obligations when enacting its increase of the standard qualifying period for permanent residence to a decade. Continue reading...

E3G thinktank warns retrofit sector could shed 10,000 skilled jobs as small firms struggle to survive Cuts to a scheme for insulation and heatpumps for low-income households will leave homes damp, draughty and unsafe over winter, experts have said. Housing have asked for a one-year extension to the scheme to ensure continuity and prevent small retrofit firms going bust. Companies say funding for solar panels and insulation is already being withdrawn, leaving homes cold and draughty as winter sets in. Continue reading...

Those who tried to overturn the 2020 election now occupy key federal roles, shaping rules and sowing doubt for 2026 The people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have more power than ever – and they plan to use it. Bolstered by the president, they have prominent roles in key parts of the federal government. Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who helped advance Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen election in 2020, now leads the civil rights division of the justice department. An election denier, Heather Honey, now serves as the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in the department of homeland

Some small business owners doubt that even strong holiday sales will ease impact of tough year plagued by uncertainty Donald Trump’s tariffs have increased prices on an array of popular holiday goods and driven a “massive” number of small firms out of business, industry leaders have warned. On Small Business Saturday, firms have their fingers crossed that strong holiday sales will ease the impact of a tough year. But many aren’t holding their breath. Continue reading...

In social media post Trump claims baselessly that Biden did not sign off on the orders himself, escalating longstanding campaign against his predecessor * Trump says he plans to cancel most of Biden’s executive orders West Virginia governor Patrick Morrisey reaffirmed his support for the state’s National Guard members deployed in Washington, DC. “When you have these terrorists, when you have these evildoers, you’re not going to back down when they go after our servicemen and women,” Morrisey, a Republican, told CNN. I’m devastated to learn of the passing of Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, a member of the West Virginia National Guard. She was

Move marks shift in how the guard are used in the US capital, days after two members were shot National guard troops are to be paired with local law enforcement on patrols in Washington DC, according to a report in the Washington Post on Friday, 48 hours after two guard members were shot. “Officers will conduct high-visibility patrols with the national guard and provide assistance as needed,” according to an email to the district’s leadership obtained by the Post. Continue reading...

Trump baselessly claims his predecessor didn’t sign off on directives himself due to use of autopen machine Donald Trump has declared he intends to cancel most of the executive orders signed by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president of the United States. In a post on social media, Trump claimed baselessly that Biden had not signed off on the orders himself, saying that “the radical left lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him” by signing his name using an autopen – a signature machine that has commonly been used by US

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. The president explained his decision on social media by posting that “according to many people that I greatly respect”, Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly”. In March of last year, Hernandez was convicted in an American court of conspiring to import cocaine into the...

US President Donald Trump spoke by phone last week with leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with the two rivals discussing a possible meeting in the United States, The New York Times reported on Friday. The reported call comes as Trump’s administration piles pressure on Venezuela with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Washington says the aim is curbing drug trafficking but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal. The...

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was nullifying all documents signed by autopen during the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden. “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Trump said on social media. He added that he was “hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who...

The head of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Friday it retained the right to respond to Israel’s killing days ago of its top military commander and left open the possibility of a new conflict with Israel. Naim Qassem spoke in a televised address as fears grew in Lebanon that Israel could escalate its bombardment of the country to compel Hezbollah to relinquish its arsenal across the country, which the group has repeatedly rejected. Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s top military commander...

China has halted imports of soybeans from five Brazilian exporters after inspectors found pesticide-treated wheat mixed into a cargo bound for Beijing, officials from both countries said on Thursday. The suspension by China’s General Administration of Customs was communicated to Brazil’s agriculture ministry on Wednesday and made public on Thursday. The ban covers two Cargill facilities and one plant each run by Louis Dreyfus Co., CHS Agronegocios and 3Tentos Agroindustrial. Four of the plants...

France on Friday charged the fourth alleged member of a four-person gang arrested over last month’s spectacular jewel heist at the Louvre, prosecutors said. On October 19, the gang raided the world’s most visited art museum in broad daylight, taking just seven minutes to steal jewellery worth an estimated US$102 million before fleeing on scooters. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau described the fourth suspect as a 39-year-old man born in the working-class Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. “Already...

Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the US attorney for the District of Columbia announced on Friday, while investigators continue to seek a motive. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalised in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. Trump announced on Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died. US Attorney...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday removed his powerful chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, after detectives raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe. Yermak’s removal deals a serious blow to Zelensky, who is facing a mounting Russian offensive in the east just as the United States, a crucial ally, proposed a surprise plan to end the war that heavily favoured Moscow. Just last week, Zelensky had named Yermak, 54, as Ukraine’s top negotiator in...

The Cop30 UN climate change conference in Belem, Brazil, concluded with a package of decisions that champions implementation and finance, yet its success is nuanced, marked by both institutional progress and political compromises over the core issue of fossil fuels. The conference, framed as the “implementation Cop” by the Brazilian presidency, turned attention away from purely text negotiations to implementing action. The world is grappling with the complex realities of executing a systemic...

A daughter of South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma has resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war, her party said on Friday. Police last week said they were investigating allegations that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, an MP in her father’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, had lured 17 South African men to Russia “to fight in the Ukrainian war without their knowledge or consent”. The presidency said in early November it had...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would suspend migration from what he called “third world countries”, a day after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, killing one. His social media post, which also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, marked a new escalation in the anti-migration stance of a second term that has been dominated by Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Trump said earlier that Sarah...

The bird flu virus that has been spreading among wild birds, poultry and mammals could lead to a pandemic worse than Covid-19 if it mutates to transmit between humans, the head of France’s Institut Pasteur respiratory infections centre has said. The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in the past few years, disrupting food supplies and driving up prices, though human infections remain rare. “What we fear is the...

Peru’s Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced leftist ex-president Pedro Castillo to more than 11 years in jail for trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree to avoid impeachment. Dubbed Peru’s first poor president, the former rural teacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency, was impeached by Congress and jailed following his attempted power grab in December 2022. He had repeatedly clashed with an opposition-dominated Congress during his 16 months in power,...

Take a walk through some of Hong Kong’s most iconic streets and you might notice a puzzling sight: prime retail spaces in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and other areas are papered over with all types of rental advertisements where there used to be a buzz. Out-of-reach rental prices are often a result of a simple human instinct: the desire to hold out for yesterday’s peak prices. For many property owners, accepting a lower rent can feel like a step back, potentially affecting bank...

Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has left the country for Senegal after being detained during a military coup, the government in Dakar said on Thursday, as a lead opponent accused him of arranging the uprising. The military in volatile Guinea-Bissau earlier appointed a general as the country’s new leader, a day after seizing power and derailing the announcement of election results. Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa told Agence France-Presse he believed he had won Sunday’s...

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would review the immigration status of every permanent resident or “green card” holder from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington. The announcement came as US President Donald Trump said that one of the National Guard members, 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, had died of her wounds, while the other, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, was ‘fighting for his life’. US officials have...

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an agreement with Alberta’s premier on Thursday that rolls back certain climate rules to spur investment in energy production, while encouraging construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. Under the agreement, the federal government will scrap a planned emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and drop rules on clean electricity, in exchange for a commitment by Canada’s top oil-producing province to strengthen industrial carbon pricing and...

Israeli forces on Thursday killed a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they appeared to surrender to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood”. The Israeli military said it was investigating. The killings, captured in videos shown on two Arab TV stations, came as Israel pressed ahead with its latest offensive in the West Bank, where the army has stepped up its activities over the past two years. Israel has said it was cracking down on...

Italy’s defence and aerospace group Leonardo on Thursday presented plans for a new multilayered air defence system, as European countries stepped up military capabilities to bolster defences against Russia and other threats. The “Michelangelo Dome” is an integrated defence system that uses artificial intelligence to neutralise a range of threats, from hypersonic weapons to drone swarms and naval attacks, in a bid to strengthen its role in European multi-domain security. Named for the Renaissance...

US President Donald Trump said that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by an Afghan national near the White House had died, calling the shooter who had worked with the CIA in his native country a “savage monster”. As part of his Thanksgiving call to US troops, Trump said that he had just learned that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life”. “She’s just passed away,” Trump said. “She’s no longer with us....

France on Friday caught one of two detainees who used bedsheets to escape from prison a day earlier after sawing through the bars of their cell, a prosecutor said. The man was arrested south of Dijon, where the jailbreak occurred, said the eastern city’s prosecutor, Olivier Caracotch. He said the person caught was thought to be the older of the pair, a 32-year-old man accused of violence against a partner. That would mean a 19-year-old suspected of attempted murder was still on the run. Interior...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own - otherwise his army would take it by force. The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces. Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hoped to finalise through upcoming talks...

Pope Leo lamented that the world was seeing an unusual number of bloody conflicts during his first trip outside Italy as Catholic leader on Thursday, and he warned that a third world war was being “fought piecemeal”, with humanity’s future at risk. In his first speech given overseas since his election in May to lead the 1.4 billion-member Church, Leo, the first US pope, said “ambitions and choices that trample on justice and peace” were destabilising the world. He told political leaders in...

Three Chinese workers in Tajikistan were killed in an attack launched from Afghanistan near the border, Tajik authorities said on Thursday. Tajikistan has strained relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and several border clashes have broken out in recent months. The foreign ministry said a drone and firearm attack hit workers of a Chinese company in the country’s south. “The attack, carried out with firearms and a drone loaded with grenades, claimed the lives of three employees of Chinese...

Two Swiss lawmakers have asked prosecutors to examine whether gifts reportedly given to US President Donald Trump – including a Rolex watch and a gold bar - by Swiss business leaders may have violated Switzerland’s anti-bribery laws. Switzerland this month struck a framework agreement with the US to cut a 39 per cent tariff on Swiss goods to 15 per cent. The deal came 10 days after a delegation of Swiss business leaders visited Trump in the Oval Office, bearing the gifts, according to Swiss...

In nuclear war, the long-held assumption of mutual assured destruction no longer exists. Welcome to the age of permanent strategic instability, where superpowers mix fast and accurate nuclear and non-nuclear missiles in the same arsenal. The risk of war is greater than many realise. The scale of catastrophe is also significant. A potential nuclear winter is estimated to amount to billions of deaths from starvation after years of global crop failures. Such risks and consequences are disastrously...

French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new national military service plan on Thursday as France seeks to bolster its armed forces to address growing concerns over Russia’s threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. Macron announced that volunteers aged 18 and 19 will start serving next year in a 10-month new military service programme. “A new national service is set to be gradually established, starting from next summer,” Macron said in a speech at the Varces military base, in...

Food giant Campbell’s said on Wednesday it has fired an executive who was recorded making racist comments and mocking the company’s products and customers. Martin Bally, a vice-president in Campbell’s information security department, was named in a lawsuit filed last week by Robert Garza, a former Campbell’s employee who said he was fired January 30 after he reported Bally’s comments to a supervisor. The lawsuit was filed in Michigan, where both Garza and Bally live. Campbell’s is based in...

On the 32nd anniversary of New Oriental, a private Beijing-based education services provider, the company’s founder, Yu Minhong, wrote an internal letter to his staff about his trip to the South Pole. “I am standing in the icy world of Antarctica, surrounded by vast expanses of pure white, emerald-like icebergs and boundless tranquillity,” he wrote. “The glaciers shimmer with a captivating glow under the sunlight, as if to silently declare the power of time and the meaning of perseverance.” He...

Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by Nasa’s Perseverance rover. The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported on Wednesday. The researchers documented 55 instances of what they call “mini lightning” over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils. Almost all occurred on the windiest Martian sols, or days, during dust storms and dust...

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday declared a “nationwide security emergency” as the country scrambled to respond to a wave of mass kidnappings that have seen hundreds of people, mostly children, captured in a week. “This is a national emergency, and we are responding by deploying more boots on the ground, especially in security-challenged areas,” Tinubu said in a statement. Within days, assailants across the country kidnapped two dozen Muslim schoolgirls, 38 worshippers, more than 300...

A Massachusetts woman who was once engaged to the brother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remains in ICE custody two weeks after being arrested on her way to pick up the son she shares with her former fiancé. Bruna Ferreira, 33, was driving to her son’s school in New Hampshire on November 12 when she was pulled over in Revere, Massachusetts, her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said on Wednesday. “She wasn’t told why she was detained,” he said. “She was bounced from Massachusetts, to New...

Investigators led by the FBI’s joint terrorism task force sought clues on Thursday to what drove an Afghan immigrant to open fire on two National Guard soldiers mere blocks from the White House in what officials called an “ambush” attack on Thanksgiving eve. The two soldiers, part of a militarised law enforcement mission ordered by US President Donald Trump months ago and challenged in court by officials of the District of Columbia, were hospitalised in critical condition. The suspect, who was...

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is barring South Africa from participating in the Group of 20 summit next year at his Miami-area club and will stop all payments and subsidies to the country over its treatment of a US government representative at this year’s global meeting. Trump chose not to have an American government delegation attend last weekend’s summit hosted by South Africa, saying he did so because its white Afrikaners were being violently persecuted. It is a claim that...

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers is urging Donald Trump’s administration to reject Myanmar’s “sham” elections next month, days after the administration cited the country’s electoral progress as grounds to remove legal protections for Myanmar nationals in the US. “Burma’s planned elections this December are proving to be a sham,” said Representatives Brian Mast and Gregory Meeks and Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen on Wednesday, using the former name for the war-torn country. “Orchestrated...

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit China next week and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Wednesday. The three-day visit is scheduled to begin on December 3, with two stops in Beijing and Chengdu, according to the statement. “On this occasion, major issues relating to the strategic partnership between France and China will be addressed, as well as several major international matters and areas of cooperation aimed at tackling the global...

The Guinea-Bissau military appointed a general as the country’s new leader on Thursday for one year, a day after seizing power and arresting the president of the coup-prone west African nation. “I have just been sworn in to lead the High Command,” General Horta N’Tam declared after taking the oath of office in a ceremony at the military’s headquarters. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were deployed at the scene. On Wednesday, a group of army officers seized power, a day before the planned...

A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against US President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who recently took over the case said he would not pursue the charges. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case last month from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was removed over an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she...

US President Donald Trump raged on Wednesday at a New York Times report that focused on his age and growing signs of fatigue, insisting that he is full of energy and calling the woman author of the article “ugly”. “I have never worked so hard in my life. Yet despite all of this, the Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy, despite facts that show the exact opposite,” the 79-year-old Republican posted on social media. Trump is the...

France’s top court on Wednesday upheld Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction for illegal campaign financing of his re-election bid in 2012 in another blow to France’s former president’s legacy and reputation. The decision by the Court of Cassation makes definitive Sarkozy’s conviction to a year in prison, half of it suspended, for fraudulently overspending on the failed campaign. Under French law, the sentence can be served at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements set by a...

Britain’s unpopular centre-left Labour government sought to seize the political narrative on Wednesday with a tax-raising budget that it hopes will boost economic growth by fostering a stable debt outlook, reduce child poverty and ease cost-of-living pressures. But the entire contents of the budget were leaked half an hour before Treasury chief Rachel Reeves delivered the budget statement in the House of Commons, in a sign of the chaos that has engulfed the government during weeks of mixed...

The growing influence of stablecoins is beginning to reshape how some Chinese firms conduct cross-border settlements. In this explainer, the Post outlines four roles that US dollar-backed stablecoins play in China’s overseas trade, based on a recent analysis by Zou Chuanwei, the president of the Jiangsu Jinke Research Institute on Digital and Technology Finance, published in Tsinghua Financial Review. How are Chinese traders using US dollar-backed stablecoins? First, some overseas importers face...

As China’s tourists scrap plans to visit Japan en masse amid an ongoing diplomatic feud, many appear to be pivoting to an alternative destination: Russia. Chinese travel firms have reported a surge in Russia-related flight and hotel bookings in recent weeks compared with the same period last year, with analysts saying the country’s winter scenery made it a natural replacement for Japanese hotspots like the northern island of Hokkaido. Russia hotel bookings made by Chinese travellers in the two...

The United States and the Philippines are preparing to hardwire advanced cyber operations into the heart of their annual war games, signalling a shift from merely talking about digital threats to practising how to fight through them. Jennifer Schmidt, head of the US embassy’s information and communications technology unit, said specialised training ranges and sophisticated threat-emulation software would be incorporated into next year’s Balikatan drills so troops could rehearse defending...

The US-backed 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The Russians shared the paper, which outlined Moscow’s conditions for ending the war, with senior US officials in mid-October, following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, the sources said. The paper, a...

Juan Orlando Hernández was accused of receiving millions in bribes and partnering with cocaine traffickers. He was convicted in Manhattan in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The upcoming election in Honduras shows how politicians must balance cooperation with the Trump administration with their obligation to undocumented citizens in the United States who may be deported.

The university will pay $75 million to regain its research funding and end investigations, the second highest payment by a school facing pressure from the administration.

Red ribbons adorned one city, while blue ribbons hung in another town — all to honor the National Guard members who were attacked in Washington this week.

They were the latest restrictive changes to the immigration system after this week’s shooting of two National Guard members.

Prosecutors say members of the Somali diaspora, a group with growing political power, were largely responsible. President Trump has drawn national attention to the scandal amid his crackdown on immigration.

After Beijing reshaped the political order in Hong Kong in its image, the fire has become a test of how well that new system can govern in a crisis.

I needed to stop thinking that I knew more than the author and give in to whatever ride they had spent years planning.

It is not only classical musicians who are being stunted by the search for perfection. It is harming many aspects of our lives and sectors of our society.

As the year comes to a close, we want to know your highly specific, idiosyncratic bests of 2025.

Segev Kalfon said he endured physical abuse and mind games during 738 days in the hands of Hamas. Now, he asks why it took so long for Israel to bring him home.

The new law seeks to prevent retailers from ripping off consumers by using artificial intelligence and their personal data to charge them higher prices.

Rescue efforts across the nation of 23 million have been hampered by disruptions in transport and telecommunications.

Malaysia launched a “year of enforcement” in response to a surge in undocumented migrants, many of them from Myanmar. Some faced nightmarish fates.