Minimalist News

Brasília Makes Friends With Beijing Authored by Jake Scott via FEE , On a Sunday night in late July, Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and China's Xi Jinping spoke for more than an hour. It was cordial and faintly triumphant, with the two governments announcing their intention to accelerate a long-stalled China-Mercosur trade agreement . Alongside this, there are plans to deepen cooperation on satellites and critical-minerals processing, and waive short-stay visa requirements. Image Credit: Custom image by FEE This marks a serious change for Brazil. For years, it was Brasília that had spearheaded all resistance to exactly this

Jury Weighs Whether "Darn Good Mother" Lindsay Clancy Is Criminally Liable For Murdering Her 3 Kids Jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial started on Aug. 27 after five weeks of testimony. Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, is accused of killing her three young children while her now-ex-husband was running errands in January 2023. The 36-year-old mother faces three counts of first-degree murder, one for each child: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. Judge William Sullivan gave the jury the option to instead consider second-degree murder or manslaughter. Only a few hours of deliberations happened before

States Race To Cut Food Stamp Errors Before Penalties Kick In Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times , States are racing to reduce faulty payments to food stamp recipients, in a bid to avoid penalties included in the signature budget bill passed by Republicans last year. Starting in October 2027, states with payment error rates of 6 percent or higher must cover 5, 10, or 15 percent of SNAP benefit costs, depending on the payment error rate. Even though the deadline is more than a year out, enrollment in the program has dropped by more than 5 million

Mayor Of Indiana City Claims Race Discrimination After Delayed Utility Repairs If a group's entire world view is built on the notion that they are perpetual victims because of their race, every time something bad happens to them they are going to go looking for racism as the scapegoat. In other words, they are going to see "racism" under every rock and behind every tree. They will even see racism in a power outage. When it come to the black community in the US, though, most of the bad things that happen in their neighborhoods are directly caused by their

Trump's Energy Policy Could Cost US 540 GW Of Renewables, Says NRDC By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive Aspects of the Trump administration’s energy policy - such as the rollback of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, the introduction of new tariffs and offshore wind lease buybacks - could cause the U.S to lose between 390 GW and 540 GW of new wind, solar and energy storage capacity over the next decade , according to projections from the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Crucially, these lost projects are not actually replaced with other sources of new power,” the NRDC said in a Wednesday

Federal Court Dismisses Musk's X Lawsuit Against New York Law Forcing Platforms To Define Speech A Trump-appointed judge just dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s X seeking to void a New York state law requiring social media companies to disclose how they define and monitor hate speech , extremism, harassment, foreign political interference and disinformation. U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan rejected X’s argument that the Stop Hiding Hate Act violated the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment by exposing it to lawsuits and big fines unless it disclosed "highly sensitive and controversial speech" that the state found objectionable. Additionally, Cronan

Judge Crushes Maryland Democrats' Gerrymandering Games Submitted by Maryland Freedom Caucus Annapolis Democrats spent months insisting there was nothing to see here. On Tuesday, a Maryland judge told them otherwise — in writing, and in language sharper than anyone expected. The bottom line: a circuit court judge just ruled that House Bill 2100, the constitutional amendment Governor Wes Moore and legislative Democrats rammed through a two-day special session to pave the way for wiping out Maryland's last Republican congressional seat, was placed on the November ballot unlawfully. This is the story of how we got here. The Setup: A Map

Your Tax Dollars At Work: Georgia Teacher Creates 'Fart Corner' In Classroom, Calls It The 'Gas Station' An Atlanta elementary school teacher has created a designated “fart corner” where students can pass gas without leaving class or interrupting lessons, according to NBC . Second grade teacher Candy Sydney Browning calls the area the “gas station,” while the specific spot is known as the “gusty winds area.” Students can quietly get up, walk to the corner, take care of business and return to their seats without asking permission. Sydney Browning came up with the idea after noticing that bathroom trips and

Trump Complained About Big Oil Profits, But Dumped Exxon Stock On Ceasefire Day By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com , President Donald Trump’s investment accounts sold between $500,000 and $1 million of ExxonMobil stock on April 7, the same day Trump announced a ceasefire in the Iran war and hours before Exxon shares opened 6.5% lower , according to financial disclosures reviewed by CBS News . Exxon closed at $163.91 on April 7 before Trump announced the ceasefire that evening and opened at $153.52 the following morning. The transaction was one of hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases and sales

Moody's Downgrades Baltimore City's Credit Rating Amid Population Collapse Moody's Ratings downgraded Democrat-led Baltimore City's bond rating this week, highlighting a rapidly deteriorating financial situation as declining reserves, depleted utility funds, and mounting borrowing costs strain the crime-ridden metro area best known for the hit HBO series The Wire . Local outlet Fox Baltimore reports that the ratings agency lowered Baltimore's rating from Aa2 to Aa3, citing "declining fund balance and cash levels across all government operations ," with much of the deterioration concentrated in utility and internal-service funds. Moody's explained that the city's finances have weakened since the COVID-19

The Rise And Fall Of 'Resistance' Hero Alexander Vindman Authored by Blaise Malley via Responsible Statecraft , On paper, Alexander Vindman's loss in last week's Florida Democratic Senate was a shocking upset. After all, Vindman had a 16-to-1 fundraising advantage and far more national name recognition than the winner - progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon. But the results reflect more than one poorly-run campaign. Vindman is one of the most prominent faces of a bygone political era known as "Russia-gate" - a period which Democratic voters appear ready to leave behind. Just a few years ago, the idea of Vindman

Newly Formed Lake Threatens 2nd Flood At Nepal-Tibet Disaster Zone A rapidly expanding dammed lake above a Nepal-Tibet flood zone poses a severe new threat to Gyirong Port, where hundreds of people remain unaccounted for following an initial catastrophic surge . Formed by mudslides near the junction of two rivers, the blockage sits about 11 miles upstream of Rasuwagadhi and has created a 27-acre lake , according to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). China's Ministry of Water Resources estimated on Aug. 27 that the lake currently holds roughly 2 million cubic meters (528 million gallons) of

"Most Jobs Will Disappear Forever": Bill Gates Calls For Taxes On AI And Robots To Protect Jobs For Humans Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times , Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates warned Wednesday that artificial intelligence (AI) will permanently eliminate many white- and blue-collar jobs and called for taxes on AI and robots along with protections reserving certain jobs for humans. Bill Gates in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 9, 2026. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images "Many jobs will disappear forever," Gates wrote in an essay published on his Gates Notes website. He said AI could become "the greatest equalizer ever

Zelensky's Top Aide Named In Explosive Court Audio In Mudra Corruption Case Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky's Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov has been named as part of a major corruption case involving Zelensky's former Deputy Chief of Staff Iryna Mudra , who was arrested and is currently center of a top corruption court case, local outlet Hromadske reported Wednesday, citing court documents. Mudra, who was Zelensky's #2 staffer before being dismissed and detained, stands accused of hiding assets and money laundering. The whole saga has placed an uncomfortable spotlight on the presidential office, and is proving to be an embarrassment

State AGs Target 'Big Four' Accounting Firms, Claim They're Pushing Climate Disclosures Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times , A coalition of 16 state attorneys general is investigating the "Big Four" accounting firms, alleging that they may have pushed climate accounting on client companies. Climate change activists hold signs during a press conference with members of the House of Reps. Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 13, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times "The Big Four's climate commitments force clients to make burdensome climate-related disclosures that drive up the costs of their services

Trump Close To 'Massive' Deal For Seizing Stake In Venezuela's Vast Oil Fields Amid ongoing global oil supply disruptions due to the Iran war and Hormuz Strait crisis, and also as Ukraine's war on Russian oil refineries and export terminals heats up, the Trump administration has been scrambling to tap new reliable and long-term energy sources. Now, nearly eight months since the US miliary raid on Caracas which removed from power and captured socialist President Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration is said to be on the brink of a massive deal to gain ownership stake in the countries vast

Moscow Warns It Could Target British Military Facilities In Unprecedented Statement From the very start of the Ukraine war, the United Kingdom has consistently been among Kiev's most open and ardent military supporters, time and again transferring heavy weaponry, including cutting edge long-range missiles like the Storm Shadow. At the start of this week, Britain announced it plans to provide Ukraine with classified technology to allow for the country's own manufacturing of the British/French-designed SCALP air-launched cruise missile (which in the UK is known as the Storm Shadow). The allies expect to set up a production line in Ukraine as

Quinn: They Know What's Coming, Because They Planned It... Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog, “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency involved.” – Ludwig von Mises “The financial history of the last century shows a steady increase in the amount of public indebtedness. Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of

Alberta Premier Rejects Using Oil As A Weapon Against Trump Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com , Alberta's Premier Danielle Smith has rejected the idea of slapping export taxes on crude oil exports to the United States in retaliation for the Trump administration's tariff salvo against Ottawa, saying they would be damaging to Canada. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) "Although I understand the need to respond strongly to these tariffs, I cannot think of a more disastrous policy decision than cutting off

Army's Project Janus Selects Five Reactor Companies For Rapid Development The US Army's Project Janus, which we detailed at length back in November, has selected its initial batch of reactor developers to bring advanced nuclear energy to Army installations to ensure resilient and ready power. BREAKING: The first fully operational commercial nuclear microreactor will be deployed at a U.S. Army installation in 2028. To achieve this, the Army has awarded a combined $2.2 Billion to five competing commercial companies. — Jeff Waksman (@Waksman84) August 26, 2026 The program is looking to move reactor developers through their first-of-a-kind and second-of-a-kind designs

Mark Carney rejects attempt to rename lake as did several US governors, with Tony Evers mocking the move US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, making it Lake America, amid his escalating trade war with Canada. The order directs federal agencies to adopt the name-change on US maps, documents and databases. But Trump has no authority to rename Canada’s portion of the lake, nor to compel Canada, international legal bodies, international mapmakers, or the rest of the world to adopt a new name. Continue reading...

The US president expected Ottawa to bow to tariff demands, but Canada is striking back – and it could cost Americans This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday Earlier this year, a survey found that Canada , along with Switzerland , was the best-liked country in the world. We all know this kind of polling is about as scientific as a high school popularity contest, but at least anecdotally, Canadians have a reputation for being friendly and welcoming, respectful and polite. Many people would find it difficult to

Paper products among hardest-hit sectors after trade negotiations broke down, with 25-50% tariffs estimated Are you a Canadian boycotting US products? We’d like to hear from you Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations. After trade negotiations broke down between the two countries last weekend , Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, vowed to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar” and unveiled a list of nearly 900 American

Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo, deported to Honduras, is latest military spouse to face removal amid Trump 2.0 The wife of an active-duty US soldier was deported on Monday to her native Honduras , according to her family and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo is at least the seventh spouse or parent of an active-duty US soldier to be deported under the immigration crackdown during Donald Trump ’s second presidency. Continue reading...

Gang leader threatens to kill hostages after attack in Kenscoff in which homes were also set alight ‘A massacre’: Haiti gangs carrying out mass killings At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once peaceful community near Haiti’s capital at the weekend, the UN has said. A gang leader has threatened to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community of Kenscoff, nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince. Continue reading...

Operations in Rasuwa in Nepal suspended amid fears of further destruction; 1,500 people still missing amid race to find survivors Flood risk forces halt to rescues in Tibet, as Nepal death toll rises to 469 Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding . “Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,”

Lake has formed at epicentre of flood, forcing rescue teams to withdraw, Chinese state media report Nepal flash flood – latest updates Nearly 1,400 missing, mostly tourists, and hundreds killed Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? A ⁠lake formed by a landslide on the Nepal-Tibet border has started to overflow, putting at risk areas devastated by a flash flood two days ago and forcing a temporary halt to rescue efforts, authorities in China and Nepal have said. Residents in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, were seen

It is polite to reposition a guest’s shoes when they arrive, but the emergency services in one city advise just skipping that part Etiquette, manners and consideration for others are integral pillars of Japanese society but there are times when they might go a step too far, according to one city’s emergency services. The fire department in the central city of Kanazawa has urged people not to tidy up the shoes that paramedic crews have taken off when entering a house, warning it could hinder their ability to get in or out quickly, particularly when carrying someone on a stretcher.

Renewed scrutiny comes after police officer accused of falsifying records in order to close the cases of people who were later found dead South Korean police will re-examine about 310,000 missing persons cases closed over the past three years, prompted by a scandal in which an officer was arrested on suspicion of falsifying records to close files on two people who were later found dead. The case has drawn national attention, with President Lee Jae Myung ordering an investigation into the police handling of it and telling the force to draw up a reform plan. Continue reading...

Thai navy says ‘routine’ visit’ will allow personnel to rest and recuperate amid reports of poor conditions onboard The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is set to make a temporary stop in Thailand next week as it heads back to the United States, Thai navy officials said, after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea supporting US operations against Iran amid recent reports of poor living conditions and low morale onboard the vessel. The Lincoln left the Middle East several days ago after being relieved by the USS George Washington , and is now heading home to San Diego.

Expeditioners at research station on Macquarie Island will be evacuated over possible ‘psychological stress’, while 100 dead little penguins found on Tasmanian island Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A dolphin has died from H5 bird flu in South Australia, marking the second native mammal species known to have contracted the virus. On Friday afternoon, the Tasmanian government said it was assessing the discovery of about 100 dead little penguins on King Island but it was unable to test them for H5 bird flu due to their “decayed condition”. Continue reading...

Relatives ‘really worried, but hopeful’ as they wait anxiously for news in the aftermath of the flash flooding disaster Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The families of an Australian Defence Force member and two Sydney boys who went missing with their parents in Nepal remain hopeful they will be found safe. Dozens of Australians are missing after devastating flooding in Nepal . More than 1,500 people remain missing, and 469 have been confirmed killed after massive flash floods and landslides tore through the Bhotekoshi

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Greens say Australia needs to ‘step up and really commit’ to aiding rebuilding in Nepal David Shoebridge, the Greens’ spokesperson on foreign affairs, told RN Breakfast earlier the Australian commitment of $5m for affected communities in Nepal “won’t come close to touching the sides” of the calamity. I think Australia needs to step up and really commit to helping rebuild. This is a country with minimal spare resources. Life is tough in Nepal at most times, but I don’t think $5 million comes

Brother of former state premier sent message to wife Anita Perrottet seemingly regarding plan to damage career of rival David Elliott Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Charles Perrottet wrote about a plan to damage a Liberal minister’s career following his brother’s accession to the New South Wales premiership in October 2021, stating “we execute the prick once party room is over”, a corruption inquiry has heard. Anita Perrottet told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Friday she could not recall the meaning of

Man – referred to as MM by court – will keep his identity hidden after legal challenge against suppression dismissed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The identity of a high-profile Queensland man drawn into a Cairns extortion case will remain secret, after the state’s supreme court threw out a legal challenge against a suppression order. The man – referred to as MM by the court – was drawn into an extortion case earlier this year . He is not a party to the case and is not accused of any offence. Continue reading...

Crown Prince Haakon’s wife, Mette-Marit, corresponded with late US sex offender between 2011 and 2014, long after he was convicted King Harald V of Norway has died at the age of 89, the palace in Oslo has announced, triggering the succession of his son, Haakon, whose wife Mette-Marit’s association with Jeffrey Epstein has sparked fierce recent controversy. “It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today. King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday, August 28 at 6.35 am,” the palace said in a statement. Continue reading...

Moscow threatens retaliation after Andy Burnham says UK will help Ukraine start producing long-range missiles Russia has said it could retaliate against the UK for its support of Kyiv by striking military targets inside and outside Ukraine, amid reports that the director of the CIA warned the Kremlin against attacking Nato during a secretive visit this week. Andy Burnham, Britain’s prime minister, said on Monday the UK would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start ⁠its own production of Storm Shadow ​long-range ​cruise missiles. France has also agreed to supply missile technology. Maria ⁠Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said

Father Dionysios Tabakis says his views are those of Orthodox church, ‘nothing more, nothing less’ A Greek Orthodox priest whose home-recorded album of drone metal and religious dubstep has made him a cult figure in experimental music circles has issued a statement in which he has clarified his stance on homosexuality and the Greek radical right. “As can be seen from my musical expression, I am in favour of unity, love, empathy and help for every needy, wronged and suffering person in life,” Father Dionysios Tabakis said in a public statement shared with the Guardian. “Whoever they are, whatever they

Bosnian Serb commander responsible for Srebrenica massacre dies in prison while serving life sentence for genocide From the archive: Fourteen years a fugitive: the hunt for the Butcher of Bosnia Ratko Mladić will die in jail. But go to Bosnia: you’ll see that he won Ratko Mladić, the infamous Serbian general who was serving a life sentence for genocide committed during the Bosnian war, has died in prison in The Hague. Mladić had been one of the main architects of the policy of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war. He was convicted of genocide for orchestrating the 1995 killing of

Gold collection known as Treasure of Villena, worth at least €1.7m, is target of ‘very well planned’ raid Thieves in Spain have raided the Treasure of Villena – a stunning collection of bronze age gold artefacts that has been described as the most important prehistoric trove in Europe – in the latest high-profile smash-and-grab heist on the continent. The raid on Thursday morning of the 66 mostly gold objects in the Spanish town of Villena lasted just minutes, officials said. Continue reading...

President denies visit was to gain support for Iran sanctions or due to fears that Putin plans to ‘test Nato resolve’ Donald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip. Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland. Continue reading...

Efforts to rebuild domestic food production face severe challenges and have come at deadly cost As Gaza’s population of 2.1 million has been hemmed into an ever smaller slice of the territory, farmers are using every last remaining patch of unspoiled earth, no matter how tiny, in their struggle to survive. With severe shortages of water, fertiliser and pesticide, and with more than 80% of greenhouses ruined, it has taken inventiveness and determination to clear land of debris and coax new seedlings into life. Moreover, venturing out into the open to tend to plants can be deadly. Continue reading...

As photojournalist sentenced to 15 years, rights groups warn law would turn civic engagement into security crime Iran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”. For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by Iranian lawmakers this month could make speaking to international audiences and groups a potential criminal act and restrict coverage of events such as January’s mass anti-regime protests . Continue reading...

Internal calls to end war get louder as Gulf neighbours plan alternative pipelines to cut reliance on waterway Is the strait of Hormuz, recently cited by the office of the Iranian supreme leader as “the pillar of Iran’s new security order”, and as transformative as possessing a nuclear weapon, in reality becoming a fast-diminishing asset, leaving Iran increasingly vulnerable to the new planned US wave of economic sanctions? It is the key debate that is raging inside Iran, with many different conclusions being drawn for Tehran’s negotiating strategy. Those who warn the strait’s value as a chokehold on the world

Beijing says it will take ‘all necessary measures’ to protect its interests as US steps up efforts to isolate Tehran Explainer: could US sanctions threaten China-Iran ties? China has denounced the threat of US sanctions for its trade with Iran , saying any such measures would be illegal, and warned it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its national interests. Beijing’s rejection of the US threat of secondary sanctions for any country or entity continuing to trade with Tehran had been predicted. China buys an estimated 80% of Iran’s oil exports and has defied previous US efforts to limit

Flash floods have killed at least 469 people while homes and infrastructure have been swept away Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates What caused the flash flood in Nepal and Tibet? The international community was scrambling to get aid into flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet on Thursday as authorities warned that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠where the ​deadly torrents occurred ⁠was rising and ⁠at risk ​of ‌bursting. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and obliterating entire villages, killed at least 469 people and left more than 1,300 missing. Continue

This live blog has now closed – but our coverage continues at a new blog here Eyewitness accounts have been emerging from the Tibetan side of the border , with a woman saying she was travelling from Gyirong town towards Nepal on Wednesday morning when her group encountered the flood about 4km from Gyirong port. “Trees and electricity poles had already been knocked down, and the flood water was bearing down on us. We didn’t dare turn around, so we could only reverse,” the woman, surnamed Fang, told Xiaoxiang Morning News . I was really scared. My whole body was

Unusual heat this year may have melted ice and thawed bonds that hold glaciers in place – leading to catastrophe Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates What caused the flash flood in Nepal and Tibet? The devastating flash flood that has ripped through the border communities of Nepal and Tibet has heightened fears that the climate crisis is destabilising the geology of mountain and polar regions, threatening millions of people. Satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause of the deadly torrent of mud, water and ice that tore along the Bhotekoshi River on

Rescue teams try to locate nearly 1,400 missing people, mostly tourists, while police report recovery of 389 bodies Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Rescue teams in Nepal are searching for at least 33 British nationals who are among those missing after flash floods ravaged its border with Tibet, killing more than 380 people. Nearly 1,400 people are missing, most of them tourists, authorities have said, after a glacier collapse triggered floods that roared down valleys and razed entire villages . Continue reading...

Authorities at biggest state hospital in Islamabad say 15 babies were in the ward when fire broke out At least 14 newborn babies have died in a fire that broke out in the maternity ward at one of Pakistan’s most prominent state hospitals. The blaze began in the early hours of Wednesday and engulfed the ward at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the biggest state hospital in Islamabad. Continue reading...

Course at Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort was painted with words ‘Gaza is not 4 sale’ and clubhouse was sprayed with graffiti Seven people charged with vandalising Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland have been accused of malicious damage “having a terrorist connection”. The clubhouse at the five-star Trump Turnberry hotel and resort on the west coast of Scotland was graffitied on 8 March last year and the course was dug up and painted with the words “Gaza is not 4 sale”. Continue reading...

A zero-emission compact hydrogen power plant will drive the main stage at Clifton Down in Bristol When Lorde, Little Simz and Wet Leg stride on to stages in Bristol this weekend, they will not only be entertaining tens of thousands of festivalgoers but taking part in what is being billed as a world-first clean power project. The two stages at Forwards festival on Clifton Down are being driven almost entirely by green power – a combination of hydrogen and mobile batteries charged with sustainable energy. Continue reading...

Woolston Eyes in Warrington, a dumping ground for canal dredgings, has become best place in UK for black-necked grebe A dumping ground for dredgings from the Manchester Ship Canal has become the best place in Britain for the rare and beautiful black-necked grebe, hosting 64% of Britain’s breeding population. Since 2021, Woolston Eyes in Cheshire has been restored, extended and turned into a mosaic of freshwater pools, reedbeds, willow scrub and rough grassland, managed by the RSPB and Woolston Eyes Conservation Group. Continue reading...

New rules are aimed at protecting people in debt in England and Wales and stopping homeowners being ripped off A clampdown on “rogue bailiffs” has been launched by Andy Burnham amid concerns that vulnerable people are being overcharged and face aggressive behaviour. In the latest in a series of “everyday fixes” to ease the cost of living and “make Britain fairer”, the prime minister said he was strengthening the rules that apply to bailiffs in England and Wales to better protect people in debt. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigner says PM wrote in email he believed £500k cap should be reduced over time to guard against undue influences Andy Burnham recently supported an even lower donations cap than previously reported, according to correspondence seen by the Guardian, as the row over next week’s elections bill escalates. The prime minister wrote to a campaigner in May outlining his support for a £500,000 individual donations cap, which he said would “guard against the perception of any one party being unduly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation”. Continue reading...

President’s directive stalls for a second time about a week before the first postal ballots are due to be sent out A federal judge on Thursday halted – at least for the moment – attempts to implement Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting. The president’s directive stalled for a second time about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. In the US district court, Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order in a case that could be headed back to the

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email On Wednesday, Trump officially signed a proclamation on Wednesday that suspends higher tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef imports for 90 days. This comes after backlash to the proposal – designed to lower grocery costs for Americans in the run-up to the November midterms. Several Republicans – in states with sizable cattle farming industries – have criticized the policy, saying it is a short term solution that will stymie ranchers’ ability to rebuild their herds. Four leading livestock and agricultural organizations also wrote a

Decision allows manufacturers to begin shipping doses, but confusion remains about insurance coverage The US Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, allowing manufacturers to begin shipping doses to pharmacies and doctors’ offices across the country. The FDA approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Covid vaccines, the companies ⁠said on Thursday, ⁠after ​an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target ⁠the dominant XFG variant. Continue reading...

Three employees of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news service, allege they were fired after reporting on USS Abraham Lincoln Three journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech. The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which their court filing calls “the U.S. military’s independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command”. Continue

Congressman Jamie Raskin asks president’s son to detail firm’s recent success after he joined 1789 Capital as partner Democrats on a powerful US congressional committee have launched an investigation into a venture capital firm which has thrived since recruiting Donald Trump’s son. Donald Trump Jr joined 1789 Capital as a partner just days after his father won a second term in office in November 2024. Congressman Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the US House of Representatives judiciary committee, has asked the president’s son to detail the firm’s recent success. Continue reading...

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a US$16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist. ICE moved forward with the purchase despite opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic members of Congress, who said ICE officers cannot be trusted to use them appropriately. A notice published in a federal database Thursday said ICE entered into a no-bid...

South Korea said on Friday it would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Japan in September, after Washington scaled back annual drills with Seoul in an apparent bid to encourage dialogue with North Korea. The three countries would conduct the North Korea-focused Freedom Edge exercise from September 7 to 11 in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. “This exercise is a defensive drill conducted annually by...

Trita Parsi is co-founder and executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has written four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. Born in Iran, Parsi moved to Sweden with his family as a child and then to the United States as an adult. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions...

A US federal judge on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service from implementing core parts of a new rule it adopted at President Donald Trump’s direction that would tighten mail-in voting requirements ahead of the November congressional elections. US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a temporary restraining order ‌at the behest of Democratic-led states and voting rights groups after the US Supreme Court on Monday issued a ruling that led to the lifting of earlier injunctions blocking...

Construction work at the White House was a factor in the US presidential helicopter passing too close to a passenger plane in the skies over Washington earlier this month, investigators said Thursday. The close pass happened on August 4 after President Donald Trump took off on Marine One from a temporary site on the Ellipse, outside the grounds of the White House, during the construction of a permanent helipad inside the grounds. The White House and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...

Peter Cullen, a prolific voice actor who enlivened scores of television series, specials and films, including Optimus Prime in the syndicated 1984 series Transformers and Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh cartoon franchise, has died. He was 85. His agent, Kevin Motley, said Cullen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. “His family asks that you honour his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember ‘be strong...

In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue, respect for counterparts, proud nationalism, and a focus on economic prosperity”. Amid the United...

The US Federal Aviation Administration is taking steps to fire two air traffic controllers determined to have left their shifts early before an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The moves are in keeping with a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on controllers leaving shifts early or abusing sick leave, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the information...

Canada has awarded 64 global scholars with C$504 million (US$362 million) in funding to relocate their work to Canadian universities and advance projects in areas such as health and artificial intelligence. Some 48 of the researchers were poached from the US, including from elite institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other 16 researchers are coming from 12 other countries, including the UK, Germany, China and Japan. “While certain countries...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States, as he escalated his trade war with Canada. The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the US geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow along, however. Trump has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the US announced it was imposing 50 per cent tariffs on...

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate stood in the witness box in federal court on Thursday and said they could not adequately defend themselves from criminal sex charges if they had to remain in a Miami jail while fighting extradition to the UK. During nearly two hours in a Miami courtroom, the Tates, in shackles and tan jail jumpsuits, denied under oath criminal accusations across multiple countries, blasted their critics and described their brash online personas that exude wealth...

Brazil will not be able to make rare earth magnets from its own raw materials before 2032, the coordinator of the country’s main magnet pilot plant said on Wednesday, leaving China’s near monopoly on the technology intact for years to come. Andre Luis Pimenta de Faria, who runs the plant for Senai, the research and training arm of Brazil’s national industry confederation, told a public policy panel at Exposibram, the country’s largest mining congress, that first batches could come by the end of...

The US military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, an American defence official in Europe and a Nato official said, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in Nato countries to a potential Russian attack. The US defence official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The Nato official...

The United Kingdom has seen a spike in the number of migrants applying for citizenship and permanent settlement ahead of a planned government clampdown. Government data shows what appears to be a rush to secure residency rights in response to changes announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that would force migrants to wait longer before they can gain them. The Home Office said 199,628 people were granted settlement, giving them the right to live, work and study in the UK permanently, in the...

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has died, Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported on Thursday. Mladic, 84, who had suffered several strokes in recent months, was serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after overseeing the Srebrenica slaughter, Europe’s worst act of bloodshed since second world war. Serbian state officials and Mladic’s family had...

Two years ago, the prospect of a trade war between the United States and Canada, two of the world’s most closely integrated economies, would have been unthinkable. However, US President Donald Trump’s recklessness and capriciousness know no bounds. Last week’s breakdown in negotiations between the North American neighbours, which triggered the imposition of US tariffs of 50 per cent on a wide range of Canadian goods, showed the degree to which Trump’s trade policies are vindictive, politicised...

The Iran war has reached its endgame: a costly stalemate. Six months after US and Israeli ⁠forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes it has time on its side. A threat by US President Donald Trump to impose crippling new sanctions on Iran faces a fundamental problem: Tehran is betting he will not take the final step to break the stalemate – aggressively enforcing...

Russian ⁠foreign ⁠ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ⁠said on Thursday that Russia could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine ‌in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia using British missiles. Zakharova called on Britain to back off what she called London’s hostile ⁠stance on Ukraine, which she said ‌risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level. She ‌had told the same Moscow ⁠news ⁠briefing earlier that Britain and France were “playing with ‌fire” by supplying...

Colombia’s new hard-right government wants to use prison ships adrift at sea to lock up people it considers highly dangerous criminals, a defence ministry source said on Wednesday. President Abelardo de la Espriella took office earlier this month, vowing to come down hard on armed groups in Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer. The US-backed millionaire campaigned on a pledge to bomb guerrillas and build so-called “mega prisons” in the style of El Salvador’s leader, Nayib...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iran even as the unpopular and costly war drags on with no end in sight and no sign that the US is close to achieving any of the lofty goals he set for the conflict. Trump posted an image of himself along with Iran’s slain former supreme leader Ali Khamenei against a stylised landscape background of punishing US air and missile attacks. “Mission Accomplished 2026”, a caption reads. The slogan evokes former president George...

Two workers at Frankfurt Airport have died from malaria after being infected by mosquitoes believed to have arrived in Germany on aircraft from malaria-endemic regions, airport operator Fraport and city health authorities said on Wednesday. The first death occurred in early July, the Frankfurt city health authority said, adding that the cause was established only after the patient died. The second death occurred in August, it said. The health authority said a total of six workers had been...

Tim Curry, the baritone-voiced British actor who pranced to movie fame as a singing, lingerie-clad “sweet transvestite” in the 1975 ⁠cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died at ⁠the age of 80, his manager said on Wednesday. A cause of ⁠death was not immediately given, but Curry had been in ill health for some time. He died peacefully on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, his manager said. Curry appeared in numerous films, often as a hammy villain, was nominated three times for a...

Brazil has not answered two American proposals to formalise cooperation on critical minerals, a senior US diplomat said at Latin America’s largest mining fair, leaving Washington without a bilateral deal as it races to build rare earth supply chains outside China. Matthew Lowe, economic counsellor at the US embassy in Brasilia, said Washington invited Brazil years ago to join the Minerals Security Partnership, a US-led grouping that coordinates investment in mineral supply chains, but never...

Meta agreed to pay a coalition of US states as much as US$16.7 billion and to impose sweeping new limits on how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram, according to a court filing on Wednesday that ends a landmark trial in California. The settlement, which a federal judge quickly approved, resolves claims by 29 states that Meta deliberately engineered its platforms to hook young users, misled the public about the risks and unlawfully collected data from children under 13. Texas reached a separate...

Iran and Oman have reached agreement on their share of the Strait of Hormuz and its revenues, but the vital waterway will not be reopened if the US does not accept their conditions, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday. Iran and Oman have held on-and-off talks for weeks ‌about controlling traffic through the strait, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February. Most shipping has since been shut down, driving global energy...

Prince Harry and his family arrived back in Britain on Wednesday, the BBC reported, days after it was revealed the couple were relocating six years after quitting royal duties and moving to the United States. Last week, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, surprised even their close family when it was disclosed that they would move back from California to somewhere ‌outside London for what was described as an extended period of time. Their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess...

Forty years ago, the Stockholm Document turned the political promise of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act into a more practical system of confidence-building. Amid the Cold War, Europe’s East and West did not disarm, abandon deterrence or begin to trust one another. Instead, they agreed that military competition could be made safer through prior notification, observation, information exchange and verification. The lesson was modest but durable: adversaries do not need trust to reduce uncertainty. That...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is starting to send staff back to some diplomatic missions in the Middle East that were evacuated ‌or downsized amid tensions with Iran, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The posts in Lebanon, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Baghdad, Iraq, are among those where staff will return, the sources said. Family members will also be allowed to return to the US post in Riyadh, they added. The move suggests Washington sees a lower risk of the conflict...

A man killed eight of his relatives, including four children, as they gathered for Sunday dinner at a home outside Billings, Montana, weeks after his parents asked him to move out, a family member told Associated Press. Brad Ireland, whose former wife and two children were among the dead, identified the shooter as 44-year-old Alan Smith. Smith’s parents, who were also killed, had asked him to move out, but he returned on Sunday and opened fire, Ireland said. The victims represented four...

A prominent Sikh separatist said Tuesday that the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have warned him that he faces a new credible threat to his life even as a man from India faces sentencing later this year for a 2023 death plot against him. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for Sikhs For Justice, said he was warned by FBI agents who visited him August 12 that he should not travel until the threat is resolved, and, if he does, the agency should be notified in advance of his...

A taboo-breaking book about Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and private life, written by two exiled Russian journalists, won a newly established French literary prize on Tuesday. The book, titled The Tsar in Propria Persona: How Vladimir Putin Deceived Us All, draws on more than two decades of investigative reporting by journalists Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin. The work won a newly established literary award called the Prix Strasbourg awarded by EBRA, France’s largest regional newspaper group,...

The gaffe at last month’s Aids 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro, where a US State Department presentation displayed a map of Africa with every country mislabelled, serves as more than a source of embarrassment. It was a potent symbol of the distance between Washington’s rhetoric and its real stance regarding the African continent. Earlier this year, Nick Checker, a senior US State Department official, spoke of “resetting” US relations with Africa, pivoting away from dependency and towards...

The US Secret ⁠Service is aware ⁠of a video ⁠broadcast by Iranian state television discussing a potential plot to assassinate US President Donald Trump’s youngest son, a spokesman said on ‌Tuesday. “The US Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees. “Out of concern for operational security, we ⁠do not discuss matters of protective intelligence,” Secret Service spokesman Nate Herring wrote in an email. A three-minute...

Six Chinese nationals were killed and nine ‌more are missing after a fire broke out at a gas chemical complex in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, the plant said on Wednesday. A total of seven people died and 152 people were treated for injuries, including 36 ⁠who were rushed to hospitals, the plant said on the Telegram ‌messaging app on Wednesday. The fire, which broke out on Tuesday, was extinguished, it added. An emergency services ‌plane had arrived to transport the injured to other...

A shipper needing to transit the Panama Canal bid a record US$5.3 million to secure its spot, according to people familiar with the matter. South Korea-based SK Gas Ltd agreed to pay the sum to travel the canal on September 1, said the people, who could not be identified as the information was confidential. The fee, determined through an auction run by the canal authority this week, breaks the previous high of US$4.6 million set earlier this month, also paid by a shipper controlling a South...

Dolly Parton, the country music star who rose from grinding poverty in Tennessee to become a rhinestone-studded cultural icon with hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5”, has died at 80, her family said on Tuesday. Parton was more than a singer – she wrote 3,000 songs, acted in major Hollywood films and donated millions of dollars to charities in her home state and beyond. She was also an accomplished businesswoman, with her interests spanning from her popular Dollywood theme park to cosmetics, pet...

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 per cent on US$19.94 billion (C$27.6 billion) of American goods on Tuesday, escalating its trade confrontation with Washington days after negotiations collapsed and the Trump administration imposed sweeping new duties on Canadian products. The tariffs, which take effect on September 8, will apply to more than 700 categories of US goods at rates of 15, 25 or 50 per cent, according to the Canadian government. The targeted products range from steel,...

Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex trafficking conviction and be freed from prison was rejected by a federal judge Tuesday who said the claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and long-time associate that new evidence had emerged were “demonstrably meritless”. Maxwell filed a habeas petition last December seeking to set aside her conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, claiming exonerating information was withheld and false testimony presented at her trial,...

US CIA Director ⁠John Ratcliffe spoke with Russian intelligence ⁠officials during a visit to Moscow but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Wednesday of a trip that US President Donald Trump described as “semi-routine”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin had been briefed on the outcome of Tuesday’s visit, ‌which came as the war in Ukraine drags on and as efforts to reach a lasting peace between the United States and Iran have stalled. Peskov declined to...

Brazil’s data protection authority fined ByteDance US$30 million on Tuesday over its handling of children’s data on TikTok, the largest penalty it has imposed since it was created in 2020. The National Data Protection Authority, known as the ANPD, found five breaches of Brazil’s data protection law and gave ByteDance 10 working days to appeal. The company must also erase the records of users aged 13 to 18 whose parental authorisation is not regularised within 60 working days, instruct every...

Long queues formed at petrol stations in Tehran on Tuesday after the United States announced fresh sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran into submission. Washington has turned to pulling economic levers six months into a war on Iran that has ground to a stalemate militarily, with peace talks stalled and most traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz blocked. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday laid out plans for the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran, saying the “objective is to sever...

The Mecca security pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan stipulates that an armed attack against one shall count as an attack against all three. Yet the real message is directed at the United States: if being an American ally offers no immunity against attack, there is little point in waiting for Washington to honour its security guarantees. That there has been no official White House statement casts some doubt on whether Donald Trump is really “very happy to see that Saudi Arabia,...

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” as the trade war between the United States and Canada intensifies. Such a change would be reminiscent of the Republican president’s unilateral action last year by executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The US and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with Canada expected on Tuesday to announce retaliatory measures after the Trump administration enacted...

China and the US should strive for “normal stability with controllable disagreements” in their relations, a senior Chinese official has urged in the latest semi-official dialogue with Washington. During the talks on Tuesday, Liu Haixing, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, said the two countries should expand the “pie” of shared interests to achieve positive stability anchored in cooperation. “[Both sides] should reject zero-sum games to achieve healthy stability with...

After reviewing the agency’s final plan to comply with President Trump’s demands, a federal judge barred the Postal Service from imposing new restrictions on mail-in voting.

Outrage over making Representative Jared Moskowitz, who is vocally pro-Israel, the top Democrat on a Middle East policy subcommittee reflected the party’s rift over Israel.

Mayor Karen Bass said food vendors discourage restaurant patrons, mentioning them alongside homeless encampments. Her opponent, Nithya Raman, said vendors should be brought into the system.

Intrinsic capacity is quickly becoming a preferred way to measure and assess human aging.

John Ratcliffe’s meeting this week with a Russian intelligence chief was aimed at pushing the Kremlin to pursue a peace deal with Ukraine.

Canada’s minister in charge of trade with the U.S. was responding to comments by Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative. But that was before any mention of Lake Ontario.

The president also reiterated his criticism that Canada “treats us very badly.” Trade talks between the nations collapsed last week.

A crackdown on American academia by the Trump administration has handed Canadian universities a rare opportunity to lure some top researchers north.

Ssense’s comeback efforts include moving a core part of its business to the United States so American customers can avoid hefty tariffs.

In 1980, feminists were often stereotyped as man-hating or out of touch. Then Parton gave the movement a boost — and an anthem.

A surging online push to rename Nashville International Airport for the beloved Tennessean superstar could get snagged in bureaucracy and politics.

The two controllers are among a dozen that the Federal Aviation Administration has taken steps to fire as part of an inquiry into timecard fraud, according to people familiar with the matter.

The actress and wellness entrepreneur did not deny her plans to host an intimate gathering for Sam Altman. But it will have to wait.

We are approaching a credibility crisis with Scott Bessent and Kevin Warsh leading our economy.

Meta’s settlement is far from perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

His 35-year reign opened an ancient monarchy to marriages with so-called commoners and to an incendiary association with Jeffrey Epstein.