Minimalist News

Trump Eschews Talks With 'Dishonest' Iran, Says Will Keep 'Hitting Them Very Hard' Summary Trump proclaims US strikes on Iran are succeeding and will continue. US adds sanctions, Bessent says Tehran can't pay troops , as Iran faces growing pressure. Most Americans say the Iran war isn't worth fighting : AP poll. Iran claims drone strike on US base in Kuwait - after no new US strikes overnight. Oil rises as fears of wider conflict grow and lack of talks. US announces end of Iranian blockade by August 15, 2026? Yes 20% · No 80% View full market & trade

Immigrant Business Owners Prepare Lawsuit Against Mamdani Over City-Run Grocery Stores Via American Greatness, Several immigrant business owners are preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan for city-owned grocery stores, Fox News Digital confirmed Wednesday. The Multicultural Business Coalition’s board voted this week to pursue legal action against the city over Mamdani’s proposal to open five taxpayer-funded grocery stores that would sell food at prices up to 30% below traditional retailers , according to the New York Post , which first reported the vote Tuesday. MBC Chairman Frank Garcia said the coalition plans to send

Claude Hacked Three Real Organizations During Botched Test Anthropic's efforts to test Claude's offensive cybersecurity skills produced an unintended real-world result: Its AI models gained unauthorized access to three outside organizations . The company said the incidents occurred during "capture the flag" evaluations d esigned to measure whether Claude could identify vulnerabilities, exploit simulated systems, and retrieve hidden information. Claude had been told that the targets were fictional and that its testing environment had no Internet access. According to Anthropic, a misunderstanding with evaluation partner Irregular left Internet access enabled inside the testing environment. In at least one case, the

AI Bear Case: What Skeptics Get Right And Wrong Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The AI “bear case” isn’t one argument; it’s three. Burry on earnings. Bernstein on circular financing. MIT on revenue. Two are half right. One falls apart on the data. Michael Burry broke a two-year silence on November 11 to accuse the world’s largest technology companies of cooking their books, calling it one of the more common frauds of the modern era. That got attention, and it should. When the man who shorted the housing bubble says AI earnings are fake, you listen. But the AI

It's A Gambling Platform "Plain And Simple"; New York Sues Kalshi Authored by Olivier Acuna via CoinDesk.com, New York sued prediction-market Kalshi , alleging it offers sports and event wagers in the state without a gaming license. The petition, filed in the New York Supreme Court on Friday, asks a judge to bar the company from operating an unlicensed gambling business and seeks an accounting of customer bets, losses and company gains, plus restitution, damages and civil penalties. The state is seeking a penalty equal to three times Kalshi’s gains from the activity, plus $100,000 for each unauthorized or attempted

US Senators Sent Revised Ethics Rules To White House For CLARITY Act: Report Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com, Two US senators on opposite sides of the political aisle have reportedly sent revised ethics guidelines to the White House as part of discussions over a cryptocurrency market structure bill in Congress. According to a Thursday PunchBowl report, Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Ruben Gallego submitted a counteroffer to the Trump administration that included a change to ethics provisions in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The changes would reportedly address concerns from many lawmakers in the first draft by

Entire Russian City Enveloped In Smoke & Darkness After Major Refinery Attacked The major Russian industrial city of Volgograd, in the country's southwest, is being engulfed in smoke and darkness on Friday after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks scored several hits on key sites . A sprawling energy facility, as well as warehouse belonging to the online retailer Wildberries, went up in flames, resulting in several injuries. During the attack a residential area was also struck, resulting in the death of a woman in her destroyed home. Sky darkens over smoke-engulfed city of Volgograd on Friday Wildberries has since

UMich Sentiment Surges To Pre-War Highs; AI Fears Becoming "Salient" Having rebounded from record (46 year) lows in June , University of Michigan's final July Sentiment survey was expected to show further improvement MoM, but a slight decline from the preliminary print as gas prices started rising again following the apparent end of the MoU-driven MidEast ceasefire. However, from 49.5 final for June, UMich headline print rose to 54.4 preliminary and has now jumped further to 55.2 (54 exp) final - the highest since February. Both Current Conditions and Expectations sub-indices also rose with the latter jumping most and the

Senate Schedules Contempt Vote For Fauci Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times , The Senate has scheduled a vote on holding Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Aug. 5 will consider a contempt resolution for Fauci . The resolution has not been released as of yet. Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, testifies before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in Washington on July 29, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times If the

A Wolf In New York City Mayor's Clothing Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance Zohran Mamdani may be the most effective and dangerous wolf in sheep's clothing American politics has produced in years. Beneath the polished charm and social-media-friendly persona is a grotesque combination of noxious policy ideas, delivered with snake like charm and layered with what feels like an outright hatred for success, individual liberty, free enterprise, private property, and many of the principles that helped make this country prosperous in the first place. Mayor BigBrain™ was in the news twice this week. First, he came under fire after “effectively

Trump Hails 'Historic Agreement' To Disarm Hamas, But Israel 'Skeptical' "Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza ," Trump declared Thursday evening on Truth Social. "This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY," he added, following months of delicate negotiations involving mediators Qatar, Egypt, Turkey. Implementation is as soon as in the coming weeks, a US official told Axios, after Hamas was widely reported to agree and sign on to the deal. AFP via Getty Images "This agreement is a critical step towards

Situational Unawareness Via Rabobank, Markets have a habit of explaining every move with the most obvious narrative available. This week, that narrative was earnings. Investors spent days dissecting cloud growth, AI capex, free cash flows, and also Fed messaging, while some of the most dramatic price action of this summer was being driven by something else entirely. That "something else" was Situational Awareness, the AI-focused hedge fund run by a 24-year-old whizz-kid, which reportedly had to offload most of its public equity book to Citadel following the recent tech rout. It turns out that loading up on leverage and high-beta

Roblox Crashes After User Miss, Soft Guidance Triggers Wall Street Downgrades Roblox shares plunged 21% in premarket trading in New York - the most in two years if losses hold through the cash session - after second-quarter users and bookings missed Bloomberg Consensus estimates, reflecting softer engagement following the rollout of new child-safety measures. Daily active users reached 123 million versus the 128.7 million consensus , while bookings totaled $1.56 billion, below the $1.6 billion estimate. Roblox forecast third-quarter bookings of $1.58 billion to $1.65 billion, representing a 14% to 18% decline and missing the $1.87 billion projection. Age-verification requirements

European Nations To Boycott Soccer World Cup Over New FIFA Proposals Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times, Europe’s governing soccer body, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), has said its 55 members have ​unanimously voted to ‌boycott the World Cup in protest of ⁠FIFA’s plans ​to sell stakes ​to external investors, saying that the sport’s biggest competition is “not for sale.” FIFA, the sport’s worldwide governing body headed by Gianni Infantino, announced plans on July 28 to create a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and other events, with stakes of up to 20 percent

Futures Rise After Record Rip In Kospi; Bond Bounce Fades As Oil Jumps, BoJ On Hold A broad rally in US tech stocks is extending for a second day, with Nasdaq 100 futures rising over 1%. Amazon is the standout in premarket trading, up by 12% after reporting a fifth quarter of cloud sales growth, while Apple is sinking 7% after its sales forecast was dented by industry-wide supply shortages. The gains in big-tech come amid signs that, for some, AI spending is paying off - underpinned by strong demand. Amazon shares rallied in late trading after it reported AWS

Wheat Prices March Higher As Intensifying Black Sea Fighting Fuels Food Security Fears Wheat futures are climbing after Ukraine's Black Sea ports came under renewed Russian fire, with three dry-cargo ships struck in recent days. The attacks threaten grain exports from one of the world's most important agricultural regions, heightening concerns among UN officials that supply disruptions could reignite global food inflation. Bloomberg reports: A ship was damaged at Pivdennyi port and two more were hit near Odesa, according to a Defense Ministry post on Telegram. Earlier Thursday, Ukraine attacked the Russian Black Sea port of Taman, a key gateway

Entire Ethiopian Football Team Vanishes In Sweden After Youth Tournament Via Remix News, Twenty Ethiopians connected to a youth football team disappeared in Sweden on the final day of the Gothia Cup youth tournament, prompting an international missing persons search. The group consists mainly of boys aged between 14 and 17, together with one or more adult leaders. Police believe they left voluntarily, amid suspicions that they may be attempting to remain in Sweden or another European country, although officers say that has not been confirmed. The Gothia Cup, also known as the World Youth Cup, brought teams from 77

Islam, Marxism, Tyranny Ascendant Authored by Eric Utter via AmericanThinker.com, Canada, the U.K., and France are rapidly morphing into Muslim nations. Iran is run by a motley collection of itinerant thugs and Islamic terrorists. Russia is run by an extreme authoritarian. China, North Korea, Cuba, and various other nations have a communist government. Daniel Ortega is a dictator, like many others, one who recently announced he was suspending elections in Nicaragua. The EU renders the will of the people in several European nations effectively moot. In Hungary, Victor Orban’s Fidesz Party was recently raided, their servers confiscated. Romanian presidential elections

Iran FM Accuses Israel Of False Flag After Mystery Drone Strike On Egyptian Port Iran is suggesting that Wednesday's unprecedented drone attack on a US-owned gas-processing vessel moored at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta was a false flag . Even within hours of the incident first being reported by Egyptian authorities, which merely described an industrial fire of unknown cause, the incident was shrouded in mystery and contradictory reports . Some reports pointed to the Iranians , while others alleged the Houthis may have attacked the Mediterranean port. via TradeArabia Reuters had described, "The drone hit floating storage tanker Energos

John Cleese: "Some Cultures Are Better Than Others" Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news , Legendary Monty Python star John Cleese has drawn a clear line in the sand, declaring himself a "culturalist" who believes some cultures are superior to others. Cleese has also openly backed Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe amid the accelerating collapse of British norms under mass migration and parallel societies. The legendary comedian responded this week to ritual insults hurled at him for supporting Lowe by rejecting the tired "racist" smear from the usual uneducated quarters. I see I am being ritually insulted for my support

Injectable PrEP drug holds promise but investment in HIV prevention has declined dramatically worldwide Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email New innovations in HIV prevention could dramatically reduce the number of new HIV cases around the globe, but US foreign aid cuts will mean that those that most need the new medication will be unable to access it, according to experts at the Aids 2026 Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . One year ago, the World Health Organization recommended that governments around the world prioritize expanded access to lenacapavir, an injectable version of the HIV prevention

Data shows Canadians have replaced US vacations with other international trips in apparent rebuke to Trump Canadians spent $3.3bn less on travel to the US in 2025 than in the previous year, as Donald Trump’s hostile policies towards his northern neighbour continue to incur an economic cost, new government data shows. The research also indicates that Canadians are not bucking travel overall and instead have replaced US vacations with other international destinations, in a rebuke to Trump’s tariff regime and the president’s continued musings on annexing Canada. Continue reading...

Three years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study says A spate of ferocious wildfires across North America and Europe, worsened by the climate crisis, has incinerated homes and forests and forced thousands of people to flee. Previous fires suggest the effects of these blazes may linger for years to come. The current fires and their plumes of smoke can appear to be a temporary, if immediate, crisis. Nearly 1,000 fires have sprung into life in the boreal forests of Canada, causing the evacuation of towns and toxic smoke to waft into major Canadian

President also blames Brazil and Mexico and says online critics ‘do not want the ideas of freedom to succeed’ More than a week has passed since Ferran Torres scored the extra-time goal that gave Spain its second World Cup, but – at least for Argentina’s president – the tournament is not over. Javier Milei has claimed that a coordinated “anti-Argentina campaign” was behind criticism of the country’s team, accusations of racism among its fans and conspiracy theories alleging that Lionel Messi’s side was secretly being favoured by Fifa. Continue reading...

Nelson Haase Mazzei was sentenced for murdering Jara in 2023, but fled from authorities in Chile More than 50 years after the murder of the Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara , the last man wanted in connection with his death has been tracked down and brought to justice. Nelson Haase Mazzei, a retired colonel, fled from authorities in 2023 after he and six other retired soldiers were sentenced in absentia for murdering Jara and another man. Continue reading...

Live, rolling coverage as London’s biggest companies defy Middle East disruption and UK petrol prices rise to around £1.60 per litre, the highest since Donald Trump ordered renewed strikes The story piquing the interest of the financial press this morning is that of Leopold Aschenbrenner , the AI Wunderkind (he’s German-born) who has been forced to sell off his fund in a fire sale after the AI boom ran out of steam. The 24-year-old had persuaded a lot of people to give him a lot of money for a hedge fund, after previously working for OpenAI and the FTX Future

Soldiers and emergency teams search damaged shopping centre, paper mill and homes for survivors Earthquake rocks southern Japanese island of Kyushu – in pictures The death toll from the powerful earthquake that hit Japan on Tuesday has risen to 30, as the search for survivors trapped in a badly damaged shopping centre, paper mill and collapsed homes across the south-west of the country continues. The 6.8-magnitude quake, which struck Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu, injured at least 62 people, according to the prefectural government. Continue reading...

Emergency workers are continuing their search for survivors in southern Japan after yesterday’s powerful earthquake ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missing An aerial view of a collapsed section of a bridge in the city of Yatsushiro after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture: Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper has been speaking to people at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro, where a chimney collapsed on to the site. “I never imagined something like this would happen,” said a 33-year-old man who worked at the factory.

Rescuers pulling people from the wreckage in southern Japan in a haunting repeat of disaster that struck 10 years ago ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missing “There was a voice coming from the collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” Tomohide Nagata, a volunteer firefighter, told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun. “One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.” Nagata had heard a noise coming from one completely flattened home in the rural town of Hikawa, close

Military mobilises thousands of personnel after quake on southern Kyushu island that registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese shindo intensity scale Earthquake rocks southern Japanese island of Kyushu – in pictures At least 13 people were killed when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan on Tuesday, injuring hundreds and knocking out power and water to tens of thousands. “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said on Wednesday. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.” Continue

Ombudsman finds Homes NSW acted unreasonably and recommended additional payment for distress and suffering Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An elderly public housing tenant whose home was damaged by sewage overflows will be fully compensated by the New South Wales government after it disposed of her personal belongings without her consent and failed to properly support her insurance claim. The NSW Ombudsman on Friday published its report after an investigation in which it found Homes NSW acted unreasonably in how it handled the tenant’s contaminated belongings and “failed to provide full and accurate

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast eSafety commissioner says court action against Telegram ‘very significant’ Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, spoke to the ABC this morning after yesterday’s court action against Telegram over its alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material from its platform. The scars are still very raw around Bondi. … These are platforms – and they may be doing more content moderation and we would encourage that – but not to the degree that Australian law requires them to. This is just upping the

Robert Assaf separately tells anti-corruption inquiry money funnelled through lobbying firm to create ‘maximum benefit from a tax perspective’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A group of young conservative Liberal power brokers accused of soliciting illegal donations used some of the funds to pay for a bucks night, one of its members has told a corruption inquiry. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Friday heard again from Robert Assaf, who this week was the first witness from the conservative right Liberal factional group

Hancock Prospecting says chair Kim Williams among those ‘on notice’ for failing to remove program that joked about turning Rinehart’s insides into a sausage roll Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Gina Rinehart has threatened the ABC with legal action over crude comments aired on the national broadcaster, including a joke about mixing her guts into a sausage roll. The four-minute film, titled A Very Relaxing Video, aired on the Race Around the World program on 12 July and concluded with the film-maker, Kate McGuinness, making crude and offensive comments about Rinehart. Continue reading...

M Group’s lawyer tells inquiry while the firm’s directors ‘may have done business with Gatto’ they were not ‘frontmen’ for him Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A labour hire company accused of being a front for underworld figure Mick Gatto paid him more than $1m over nine years, with its lawyer telling an inquiry it did so to secure work on Victorian government Big Build sites where the construction union had influence. Integrity expert Geoffrey Watson SC appeared before the Queensland inquiry into the

The measure will impact people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez is now in Ceuta, accompanied by interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. He first visited the Tarajal border crossing, and is now talking to officials from local authorities, border and police services. Continue reading...

Move will end six decades of production in area, as new CEO tries to simplify company and cut debt Business live – latest updates BP has put its North Sea oil and gas business up for sale as it looks to end six decades of production from the basin. The firm announced on Friday morning it had launched a formal process to market its North Sea business for a potential sale. The move comes as BP’s new chief executive, Meg O’Neill, tries to simplify the company and cut its debt levels. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Danielle Kirton calls on Ed Miliband to help her get answers about why evacuation order came too late The bereaved daughter of a British couple who died in a Spanish wildfire is calling on the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, to get answers from Spain’s government about why her parents were not told to evacuate until it was too late. Severe wildfires have burned across Spain and France since early July, killing people, destroying thousands of homes and forcing more than 300,000 people to flee. Continue reading...

Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look real From apparently conspiring to steal elections to abusing staff or performing embarrassing dance moves, the last few years have seen plenty of fake content made about politicians intended to malign its targets and mislead the public. Now EU rules aim to stem the flood of this deceptive content: starting from Sunday, artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look authentic must be labelled. Continue reading...

Rashad Sultanov, from London, suspected of conducting hostile surveillance and passing information to Revolutionary Guards A British-Azerbaijani national has been arrested ⁠in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a British airbase on the Mediterranean island and passing information to Iran’s ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard ⁠Corps, the Metropolitan police ​said. Rashad Sultanov, 44, from Islington, north London, was arrested on 17 July by Cypriot authorities ⁠and is being held in custody as extradition proceedings continue, the police said in a statement on Friday. Continue reading...

The agreement is a ‘great breakthrough’, the president says in response to media questions Trump claims agreement for ‘complete disarmament’ of Hamas in Gaza but support uncertain Saudi Arabia prepares sea and possible land offensive against Houthis Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud has reported the mood in Gaza this morning following news of Hamas’s potential disarmament. Palestinians have heard repeated statements about their fate in the three years since the current war began between Israel and Hamas, so last night’s announcement by Donald Trump wasn’t met with any particular joy or celebration. “There is scepticism and cautiousness among Palestinians,” Mahoud

Donald Trump has declared a breakthrough in negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, but Israeli government officials have voiced scepticism over the deal. Lucy Hough speaks to Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Rescuers say four bodies found in search for team caught in Broad Peak avalanche, after trackers showed rapid descent The world-renowned Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja – a former British special forces member – is among 11 climbers caught in a deadly avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. The Alpine Club of Pakistan said “seven climbers have been spotted via aerial drone footage” adding that “their identities and condition cannot yet be verified”. Continue reading...

Energy prices have soared again since fighting between US and Iran resumed two weeks ago as conflict spreads across Middle East Middle East crisis live – latest updates Iran has said it struck two tankers trying to pass through the strait of Hormuz under the escort of the US military as Donald Trump gathered his cabinet to discuss the stalling war and rising prices as midterm elections in the US loom. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday that the “non-compliant oil tankers … were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course

US president hails breakthrough but Israeli far-right minister says ‘only solution’ is ‘encouraging emigration and destroying Hamas’ Middle East crisis – live updates What is Trump’s Board of Peace and who is involved? Donald Trump has declared a breakthrough in negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, issues that have so far stalled the implementation of last October’s ceasefire, but Israel has yet to respond officially to the plan and government officials have voiced scepticism over the deal. Announcing the agreement in a social media post on Thursday night, Trump said it involved

António Guterres says strengthening El Niño will help push the world’s climate crisis into ‘uncharted territory’ India’s monsoon is in danger and hotter, drier conditions are forecast across much of the world as a stronger El Niño weather system is taking hold, weather experts have warned. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the strengthening El Niño was “adding fuel to a planet already on fire” and pushing the world into “uncharted territory”. Continue reading...

Local civil rights group alleges authorities removed evidence of killings amid communications blackout At least 30 people are alleged to have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the past two days as part of what has been claimed is a brutal state crackdown that has engulfed the disputed region for weeks. According to a local civil society group, Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the Pakistani security services fired on tens of thousands of peaceful protesters, killing 25 people on Monday and five more on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Cockroach Janta party says government has broken promise, with detentions in Delhi, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement, whose nationwide protests forced the resignation of the education minister , has accused the government of backtracking on its promise not to act against student protesters and has threatened to restart demonstrations. The Cockroach Janta party (CJP), which organised mass protests over exam paper leaks and other irregularities, said it had received reports of hundreds of students being detained or “harassed” by police. Continue reading...

Wind and record-breaking heat are fuelling the continent’s explosive fire season, with Spain and France among worst hit Explainer: what is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe? Europe wildfires live – latest updates A combination of an unusually wet winter, very low rainfall since spring and repeated record-breaking summer heatwaves is likely to explain why wildfires have ignited, spread and resisted control so readily across France and Spain in recent days . About 90% of wildfires are started by human activity, typically igniting “fine fuels” such as vegetation grass, pine needles, litter and twigs. And

In today’s newsletter: Across ​the country, a ​younger generation is turning private disillusionment into public defiance​ against a government that once felt untouchable Good morning. As flames engulfed parts of France and Spain this weekend, in India, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, was trying to put out a very different kind of fire. Thousands of people arrived in Delhi on Saturday to demand the resignation of his education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. When he stepped down in the early afternoon, the protests turned into a triumphant block party. But the Cockroach protests that have swept through India this summer are about

The turnout was recorded as the lowest on record for a mayoral role in the region The construction of a new Chinese “super-embassy” in London, which is set to be built near the Tower of London, can go ahead after a high court challenge against the decision to grant planning permission was dismissed, PA Media is reporting. The Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association (RMCRA) brought legal action against the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Continue reading...

Duetting stars surpass record set in 1953, when crooner Frankie Laine hit the top with I Believe Sam Fender and Olivia Dean have scored the longest running UK No 1 single in history with Rein Me In , beating a record that has stood since 1953. Back then, the UK singles chart had been running for less than a year and contained just 12 songs when I Believe, a bombastic ballad by US crooner Frankie Laine, hit No 1 and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. Continue reading...

CJ Miller from West Lothian has delighted global audiences with ‘sheer stupidity’ of his half-time dances The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have already provided plenty of highlights. But fans across the world have been dazzled by one particular breakout star: the “mop man”. When a cleaner came out at half-time during a netball match to wipe down the court before the restart, everything appeared normal. But as the cleaner swept, and the first bars of Queen’s I Want to Break Free rang out in the venue, he went from sweeping to a standing split. Continue reading...

Multimillionaire Peter Waddell is also found to have been properly dismissed from Big Motoring World for gross misconduct A multimillionaire used-car salesman was ousted from his £300m company after “a pre-conceived and orchestrated plan” devised by private equity investors that had backed his business, a high court judge has ruled. Peter Waddell, 60, was forced out as the chief executive of the Kent-based dealership Big Motoring World in 2024 in a coup that resulted in “more-or-less open warfare” at the car seller and caused “unfair prejudice” to the investment company that held Waddell’s majority stake. Continue reading...

More than 80 loved ones spoke of horrors of learning about Robert Bush’s crimes, including mother of a miscarried baby A funeral director has been jailed for 20 years for leaving dozens of bodies – including a miscarried baby – “rotting” in his mortuary and giving bereaved families the wrong ashes. Robert Bush, the owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Services in Hull, pleaded guilty to 67 offences spanning 12 years and affecting hundreds of families, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial. Continue reading...

US president says ‘people can someday turn on you’ if given missiles after Zelenskyy requested them during meeting earlier this week Sign up for the US Breaking News email When asked by a reporter at Camp David about negotiations with Iran, Trump said the US would be “hitting them very hard”. “We just want to win,” he said. “We’re doing very well, trying to be nice, as nice as you can be in a situation like that, but, you know, they’re being decimated. They have no Navy. They have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft. They don’t have any

Federal government plan outlines cuts to California, Arizona and Nevada but fix is likely to be only temporary The US government released its anxiously awaited plan for how to manage the Colorado river crisis on Friday, outlining cuts in water supplied to California, Arizona and Nevada. The proposal from the US Bureau of Reclamation spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from facing mandatory cuts, for now. But it is a temporary fix as the states that rely on the river continue to fight over a long-term management plan for the dwindling resource that supplies huge swaths of the western

Adam O’Neal did not give reason for his departure at end of August in another major shakeup at US publication The Washington Post had realized a state of relative calm in the five months since the paper was turned upside down in February, when nearly half the newsroom was laid off and its unpopular publisher, Will Lewis, abruptly resigned . But on Friday, staffers were shocked to find out that Adam O’Neal, a millennial hired last year to lead its opinion section, was already leaving. Continue reading...

President calls for former personal defense lawyer to be ‘immediately approved’ as attorney general Donald Trump has defended controversial plans for a $1.8bn slush fund even as they threaten to derail the nomination of his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche for US attorney general. Blanche “should be immediately approved” by the US Senate, the president declared in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday morning, defending the payout scheme proposed by his officials in the Department of Justice as it holds up Blanche’s confirmation. Continue reading...

Two-time Oscar winner was to take on role of vampire-hunting antihero but said project is no longer happening The two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali has confirmed that his Blade reboot is no longer going forward. The star of Moonlight and Green Book had been attached to play Marvel’s vampire-hunting antihero in 2019. The role had originally been played by Wesley Snipes in three films between 1998 and 2004. Continue reading...

The European Union rolled out a new team on Friday to rein in AI companies across the world, in one of the most aggressive regulations the hi-tech sector has so far faced as fears rise over the risks the rapidly advancing technology poses to people, politics and prosperity. Brussels aims to track the use of AI models for violations of its new regulations, like the publishing of sexually explicit material, fake photos and videos, and cyber threats to public infrastructure. When the bloc’s AI Act...

Chinese President Xi Jinping held discussions with the leaders of Slovakia and Namibia in Beijing during July, as well as meeting the heads of Cambodia, Thailand and Kazakhstan in Shanghai on the sidelines of the World AI Conference. Xi also hosted North Korean Premier Pak Thae‑song in Beijing following his state visit and meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June. So far this year, Xi has met with 26 national leaders, including US President Donald Trump. There may be three more...

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. Chinese satellite imagery analysis challenges US-Iran war claims Chinese scientists have used detailed satellite imagery analysis to examine damage to US military bases in the Middle East, uncovering discrepancies in both Washington...

Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday imposed a bar on foreigners who express “hate” towards the Latin American country, which he claims is the target of a sinister campaign. Experts have cast doubt on the legal feasibility of the emergency decree, which is already in force but requires parliamentary approval to remain law. The measure bars or expels foreigners deemed to have “spread or incited hate messages” against the country or its people. In a statement, Milei said the measure was in...

Russia used a North Korean missile for a strike on a village that killed five members of the same family, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, in what would be the first time such a weapon has been fired in the ‌war in nearly a year. Russia has launched North Korean missiles at Ukrainian targets before, but their first deployment since August points to a fresh stock of weapons that Moscow can draw on as it steps up missile attacks, a military source said. Russia pounded...

A scaremongering narrative has taken root in Western corridors and financial press columns: China, having saturated developed markets, is now aiming to crush fragile industries in developing nations, effectively slamming the door on their industrial dreams. It is a convenient little tale. However, it does not hold up against empirical evidence. The premise assumes that China and the Global South are fighting over the same slice of the global consumption pie – cheap T-shirts, plastic sandals,...

A US government map of Africa mislabelled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online. Reuters viewed a ‌video of the presentation given at the Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, which shows the errant map displayed halfway during a presentation about the State Department’s new health agreements. A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included...

The Trump administration is weighing a plan to charge international students US$100,000 to stay in the country and work after graduating, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a potentially devastating move for student visa holders already squeezed by recent immigration crackdowns. The person familiar spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. A White House official said there was no imminent policy change, but did not deny the proposal was under...

A man who gave his son the gun he used to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison. Colin Gray’s sentencing comes days after his son, Colt Gray, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the September 4, 2024, shooting at the school 70km (45 miles) northeast of Atlanta. Colt Gray had pleaded guilty to murder and other charges. A defence lawyer for Colin Gray asked the judge for a sentence that...

At least 34 people died trying to cross from Morocco into Spain’s Ceuta enclave during a massive surge this week in illegal migration, local regional president Juan Jesús Vivas told reporters on Friday. Vivas said around 60,000 people had crossed into Ceuta during the influx, many by swimming around a border barrier stretching into the water. He did not give details on how the victims died. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta on Friday and said his country had suffered a...

Uefa member federations agreed on Thursday to boycott all Fifa competitions in protest of Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors. “Uefa and its national associations will not participate in Fifa competitions,” the European football body said after an urgent online meeting of the 55 members. “Some things are simply too important to sell,” Uefa said in a statement. “The Fifa World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a...

US economic growth slowed in the second quarter amid a widening in the trade deficit, but an acceleration in consumer spending and robust business investment in equipment related to the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure pointed to underlying strength. Gross domestic product increased at a 1.5 per cent ‌annualised rate last quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its advance estimate of second-quarter GDP on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters...

Over the past 10 years, Washington, Brussels and London have made decreasing economic reliance on China a strategic goal. Western economic plans now stress supply-chain resilience, industrial sovereignty, technological leadership and national security. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses in global supply networks. Increasing geostrategic tensions, export restrictions and technological rivalry have supported political backing for reshoring and “friendshoring” manufacturing. The objective...

Best known as Viagra, the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil started off as a treatment for reduced blood flow but soon saw its value spike after its other effects became clear. The blue pill could have more uses, according to research by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Tel Aviv. The team found indications that it curbs cancer metastasis via a “newly discovered biological mechanism” drawing upon the drug’s blood dilatation effects. Sildenafil curbs the capacity of cancer...

David Cifaldi and his two hiking companions were crossing Montana’s ominous Froze-to-Death Plateau and approaching the top of the state’s highest peak when their adventure took a bizarre and dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole as he fell. The 44-inch (112-centimetre) steel-tipped pole passed through the flesh beneath Cifaldi’s left arm, missing any vital organs, and protruded from his back. After conferring with his friends – and considering the high cost of...

Russia pounded Ukraine with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, killing nine people in overnight attacks on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, decrying shortages of air defence supplies and urging allies to help. Russia launched more than 70 missiles and about 280 drones, Zelensky said in a statement on the Telegram app. The capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv on Ukraine’s border with Poland were the main focus of the attack, the Ukrainian air force said. Poland, a...

It was important enough to the framers of the US Constitution to be included in the first 10 amendments known as the Bill of Rights – that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”. Today, that protection – famously known as “pleading the Fifth” – remains one of the most visible and politically charged safeguards in American law. It has seeped into the culture, too. “Pleading the Fifth” has become an idiom in the United States, used jokingly in casual...

Nearly three-quarters of Cuba’s hotels have been closed and the island’s tourism sector has been brought to “almost total paralysis” by US sanctions and fuel shortages, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on Wednesday. Detailing the scale of the tourism crisis for the first time, Marrero said seven international chains, responsible for about half of all hotel rooms, had left the island. Tourism had been Cuba’s second-largest source of foreign currency earnings, employing more than 300,000 people...

The US military said it struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard targets in Iran, including military command centres and drone facilities, in a two-hour operation launched after Tehran fired ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East. “The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighbouring Gulf countries,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Wednesday. Iran’s state media reported that...

Five people have died after powerful gusts of wind in Brazil brought chaos to Rio de Janeiro and parts of Sao Paulo state, cutting power and bringing public transport to a standstill. Residents of Rio de Janeiro were taken by surprise when winds of up to 100km/h hit just before rush hour, felling dozens of trees and leaving thousands stranded as the city’s three subway queues ground to a halt. The fire department said in a statement that two people had died when a wall collapsed in the city of...

Lindsay Clancy sobbed in court on Wednesday as jurors listened to the anguished emergency call her then-husband made after returning from an errand to find she had strangled their three children in their Massachusetts home. On the roughly seven-minute recording, Patrick Clancy can be heard speaking with his wife upon finding her badly injured and bleeding in their yard, after she jumped from the home’s second-storey window. “Look at me,” he says. “Say my name.” He then tells the dispatcher he is...

US President Donald Trump unveiled a US$22 billion plan on Wednesday to rebuild Washington Dulles airport by replacing concourses and adding a large parking garage while preserving the landmark main terminal. The announcement is the latest in a series of major projects he has announced in and around the US capital. “It’s considered one of the ‌worst airports anywhere in the world, we’re going to make it maybe the best with some hard work,” Trump said, arguing it was time “for a major and long...

Brazil overtook Russia and Belgium in the first five months of this year to become the world’s largest importer of Chinese cars, buying US$5.2 billion worth of vehicles as brands raced to land shipments before a tariff increase took effect in July. The figure, drawn from Chinese customs data, is up 146.9 per cent from the US$2.1 billion recorded a year earlier, when Brazil ranked sixth among buyers. Russia bought US$5 billion over the same months this year and Belgium purchased US$3.8...

The man who stabbed and partially blinded author Salman Rushdie at a speaking engagement in 2022 was found guilty on Wednesday of federal terrorism charges for the attack, which prosecutors said was incited by death threats over Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses. Hadi Matar, 28, already serving a 25-year prison term on state charges of attempted murder for ‌the knife assault, now faces a maximum penalty of life behind bars when he is sentenced on his federal conviction, scheduled for November...

Four women have accused Jared Leto of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, to which the actor and musician responded Wednesday that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone”. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false,” Leto, 54, said in a statement. The BBC documentary Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret, released on Wednesday, details allegations including those from four women who accused the actor of sexual misconduct...

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, a choice that may intensify questions about how US central bank chief Kevin Warsh will deliver on his commitment to bring inflation back down to the 2 per cent target. The widely ‌expected decision to leave the benchmark interest rate in the 3.50 per cent to 3.75 per cent range drew dissents from three of the 12 members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee who “preferred” a quarter-percentage-point hike at this...

The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong shipping companies accused of operating vessels that transported Iranian oil to China, extending Washington’s economic campaign against Tehran alongside its naval blockade. The US State Department said eight companies were designated for operating vessels that moved Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates as part of Iran’s sanctions-evading “shadow fleet”. Six of the...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged on Wednesday to take difficult decisions to overhaul England’s adult social care system, saying he wanted to work with other parties to end unfair high costs for users that he likened to US healthcare. Successive governments have failed to reform adult social care, for which families can pay hundreds of thousands of pounds, after previous proposals were defeated by opposition parties ‌who dubbed them a “dementia tax” or “death tax”. Burnham did not...

French DJ and musician Kavinsky, known for his electronic classic “Nightcall”, has been found dead at his home in Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The self-taught pianist, whose real name is Vincent Belorgey, would have turned 51 on Friday. It was not immediately clear how he died, but emergency crews late on Tuesday noted nothing suspicious, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. “Nightcall” became a global hit after hit was featured in the soundtrack of 2011 movie Drive starring Ryan...

At least 15 elephants have died from exposure to a suspected poison in the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya over a four-week period, the country’s nature conservation authorities reported on Wednesday. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the animals had died in the park, which lies along the border with Tanzania, between June 24 and July 24. The nearby Kimana Conservancy and the Kuku Ranch area have also been affected. The KWS said that 10 of the 15 elephants showed similar symptoms,...

A ⁠Norwegian teenager ⁠was convicted on Wednesday of ⁠conspiracy to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group that prosecutors said was being used by the Iranian government. Johannes Natland, now ‌19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March last year with two firearms and ammunition in his possession. Prosecutors said Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group used by ⁠the Iranian...

Firefighters in southwest France battled an uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), threatening to turn a calm night into only a brief reprieve. Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread overnight, but rising heat and afternoon winds could revive smouldering hotspots, carry embers across firebreaks and open new fronts beyond crews’ reach. At the command centre in Lège,...

Over the past few decades, people in many countries have witnessed extraordinary technological progress. Transport is becoming smarter, robots and drones are entering everyday life, infrastructure is growing more complex, buildings are reaching ever higher into the sky and expanding cities are drawing in millions of new residents. The number of megacities – urban areas with populations of at least 10 million – rose from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025. The United Nations expects this number to reach...

If South Korea wants to unlock access to South American trade, it will need to prove it is not a competitor interested only in extracting natural resources but a trustworthy partner committed to revitalising manufacturing industries, according to observers. On Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed to revive negotiations on a free-trade agreement between South Korea and Mercosur, the South American trade bloc. A joint working group...

China’s emerging advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) is not that it already has the world’s best chips or strongest frontier models. It is that Chinese companies are increasingly providing capable intelligence at a price the global market can afford. AI is fast becoming everyday infrastructure. It is metered by usage and embedded in businesses, public services and devices, much like electricity or cloud computing. In an infrastructure market, leadership depends on affordability,...

Russia’s main domestic security agency said on Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list. The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin’s full control that...

The US Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as Donald Trump’s top intelligence official on Tuesday, putting a permanent chief in charge of the country’s spy agencies as the president revives unsupported election fraud claims ahead of the midterms. Senators voted 51-47 to confirm Clayton’s appointment, with all Democrats in the upper chamber voting against it. “Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social shortly after the vote. The...

Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, launched its own bank account-like product where users can send money to one another. The service, known as X Money, is not a new bank. X Money is using technology and banking services provided by Cross River Bank and branding that backbone as X Money. It is common for new financial companies to use a traditional bank’s backbone to launch their services, as chartering a new bank is a timely and costly process. Currently X Money is...

A US teenager who shot dead four people at a high school with a gun his father gave him as a Christmas present was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday. Colt Gray, 16, pleaded guilty to carrying out the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School in the town of Winder, Georgia. Gray was 14 years old when he shot dead two 14-year-old pupils and two teachers, while also wounding nine other people. He was charged as an adult. Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm sentenced Gray to life in prison...

Jordan’s air defences intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early on Wednesday, the country’s military said, hours after the US military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. The Jordanian military said the missiles had been “intercepted and destroyed”. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency carried a statement from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard saying the Guard’s Aerospace Force...

Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie and Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally were among public figures who on Tuesday called for refugee protections to be upheld as the United Nations decried mounting pressure ‌on asylum systems. Legal safeguards for refugees are enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, drafted in the aftermath of World War II, which displaced tens of millions of people. But while most people still support the principle of safe refuge, many governments are tightening border...

The man on trial in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie chose on Tuesday not to testify or call any witnesses in the federal terrorism case, which is expected to head to the jury as soon as Wednesday. Hadi Matar’s lawyer told the court that the 28-year-old – who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges – would not take the stand at his trial on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. “At this time, the defence rests,” lawyer Nathaniel Barone said....

Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru’s president on Tuesday after winning the June presidential run-off by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes, a victory that confirmed a regional shift in South America towards the conservative wing. With the ceremony, Fujimori, a four-time presidential candidate and leader of Peru’s largest political party, takes office as the country’s ninth president in a decade. The 51-year-old was hoping to stabilise Peru’s turbulent politics, reduce crime and boost economic...

US President Donald Trump voiced ⁠irritation with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of their White House meeting on Tuesday, complaining that details of the Israeli prime minister’s planned talking points on Iran had surfaced publicly, in a fresh sign of strain between the two leaders. Asked about reports that Netanyahu wanted to talk to him about Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Iran’s main nuclear sites, Trump said, using Netanyahu’s nickname: “I don’t need...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought licences to produce Patriot air-defence interceptors during a “good meeting” with US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, as he underscored Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s loss of initiative on the war front due to heavy losses. Zelensky spent just over an hour with Trump at the White House, in talks that came with Kyiv and Moscow intensifying long-range strikes as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled. “Today we had good meeting with President...

Several migrants who crossed into Ceuta attributed their arrival to lax Moroccan border protocols. But Europe’s anti-immigrant politicians blamed Spain’s migrant-friendly policies.

The peninsula on Morocco’s northern coast that Spain has governed for centuries has been a frequent site of mass migrant crossings and political tensions.

The new 15-point plan, released by the Board of Peace and announced by Trump, calls in part for Israel to end its attacks and Hamas to give up its weapons.

President Trump created the international organization, aimed at resolving the long-running war in Gaza and other conflicts.

The Douglas DC-3 was mass-produced during World War II. Today, one of the few still remaining transports passengers in Colombia’s jungle.

Once united in support of President Trump, right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections.

Iran sent military aid to Russia for its war against Ukraine. Now the question is whether that conflict and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran are converging.

As the Mexican-inspired American chain makes its debut in Mexico, it faces a major hurdle: convincing Mexicans to buy an Americanized take on their own national cuisine.

Inside the 81-year-old billionaire’s risky, debt-fueled scramble to transform his data empire into an A.I. juggernaut.

The billionaire’s company took on ominous loads of debt to build data centers around the world. The implications go far beyond Oracle.

Under French rules, homeowners must clear vegetation within roughly 50 yards of their houses. In the forests affected by France’s worst fire in decades, that didn’t happen.

Hundreds of thousands of people in France and Spain have been forced to evacuate from huge blazes fueled by soaring temperatures and tinder-dry conditions.

Adam O’Neal inherited a mandate from the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, to shift toward “personal liberties and free markets.”

A new policy raises questions about testosterone’s effect on aggression in some men.

In a notable shift, Republican senators voted unanimously against a proposal to expand the military’s coverage of fertility treatments.

Wilson, whose 2017 translation of Homer’s Greek classic influenced the director Christopher Nolan, panned his screenplay for the movie version in an essay for The London Review of Books.

Staring at ourselves on screens, on video and on social media is taking us to a dark place.

The New York Times correspondent says 70 percent of the president’s mind is dedicated to White House renovations.

We examine the brain injuries in the Coast Guard.

Have you had to cancel, reschedule or replan a trip to France, Spain or elsewhere because of raging fires or stifling heat? If so, we want to hear from you.

Christina Hart, 29, started posting reviews on social media in May. Less than two months later, a stomach illness forced her to stop.