Minimalist News

"We Will Not Negotiate": Iran Security Chief Denies WSJ Report Summary: * Iran seeks to resume discussions with the United States, spearheaded by Iranian security chief Ali Larijani * OR NOT: Larjiani has denied a Wall Street Journal report that he reached out to Washington. * Trump said he had three or four potential candidates to lead Iran, but they were all killed in the initial attack.  * Trump on Iran ops: “We have hit hundreds of targets including Revolutionary Guard facilities, air defense systems, nine ships, and naval buildings.” * Britain threatens to join war on Iran — Telegraph *

Germany's Strategic And Economic Vulnerability Submitted by Thomas Kolbe A year of tariff disputes with the U.S., coupled with tighter climate regulations, has left deep marks on the German economy. The most visible consequence is a 17.8% collapse in German car exports to the United States last year. Overall exports to the U.S. fell 9.4% to €146.2 billion, while total trade volume dropped by 5%. At the same time, China has returned as Germany’s top trading partner. Total trade rose 2.1%, but beneath the surface, tensions are severe: German exports to China fell 9.7% to €81.3 billion, while imports surged 8.8% to €170.6

Where Food Inflation Is Expected To Hit Hardest In 2026 Food prices remain one of the most persistent cost pressures for households worldwide. In 2026, grocery bills are projected to rise sharply in some countries, while remaining relatively stable in others. According to new forecasts from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food inflation will vary dramatically across 160 countries in 2026, ranging from double-digit surges in some economies to outright price declines in others. This map, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks 160 countries by their projected year-over-year change in food prices, highlighting where households are likely to face the steepest

Poland Plans Social Media Ban For Under-15s Three months after Australia banned minors under the age of 16 from accessing social media, Poland is preparing to do the same thing. A 14-year-old boy poses at his home near Gosford as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in New South Wales, Australia, on Oct. 24, 2025. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images A bill is currently being prepared by the largest party in Poland's ruling Civic Coalition Party that would prohibit children under the age of 15 from using social media platforms, and would require tech companies to verify users' ages.  Education Minister Barbara Nowacka laid

Gulf States Say They've Shot Down More Than 1,500 Iranian Missiles, Drones Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Five Persian Gulf nations that host U.S. military installations claim they have collectively shot down more than 1,500 Iranian missiles and drones since the United States and Israel launched their joint attack at 9:45 a.m. Tehran time on Feb. 28. A plume of smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026. Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images The United Arab Emirates (UAE)—whose forces have battled Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen—has borne the brunt of the

UK, France, Germany Slam Iran For 'Reckless' Retaliation - Are Ready To Assist Israel And US Leaders from Germany, the UK and France are waving their fists over Iran's "reckless" retaliatory strikes in the region, and say they're ready to throw down to stop Tehran from further responses.  Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a statement from Downing Street in central London on Feb. 28, 2026, following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Jonathan Brady/POOL/AFP via Getty Images On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron stood in solidarity, saying in a joint statement that they

When The Return Flight Is The Only Goal: Merz Ends China Trip Submitted by Thomas Kolbe It took some time for the supposed difference between Annalena Baerbock’s feminist foreign policy and the approach that the diplomatic corps under Chancellor Friedrich Merz would take to become clear. What has changed is less the substance than the performative act. Under the Sauerland-born Merz, tone and gestures shifted—the staging is meant to appear more masculine, sober in style, perhaps more professional, less embarrassingly activist—but the content remains largely unchanged. Ironically, arch-enemy Donald Trump became the spiritus rector of a new theatrical element in the Chancellor’s media

Is The US Military Campaign Against Iran Part Of Trump's Grand Strategy Against China? Authored by Andrew Korybko, The goal is to obtain proxy control over Iran’s enormous oil and gas reserves so that they can be weaponized as leverage against China for coercing it into a lopsided trade deal that would derail its superpower rise and therefore restore US-led unipolarity. Trump claimed that the US’ military campaign against Iran is to “defend the American people”, while many critics have alleged (whether in jest or not) that it’s to distract from the Epstein Files, but few observers realize that it’s actually all about China. It was explained here that

US-Israel War On Iran 'Decided ⁠Weeks Ago' Under Cover Of Nuclear Talks: Report Via The Cradle The unprovoked US-Israeli war against Iran launched on Saturday had "been planned for months, and the ⁠launch date ⁠decided ⁠weeks ago," even as the US and Iran carried out indirect nuclear negotiations, an Israeli defense official told Reuters. Washington and Tel Aviv renewed negotiations in February over Iran's nuclear program. President Trump was under pressure from Israel force Iran to give up uranium enrichment, as well as its ballistic missile program and support for regional resistance forces (such as the pro-Iranian Iraqi popular mobilization units, and Hezbollah, etc). Amid

Joe Biden Accuses Trump Of Planning To 'Steal' The Midterms, Claims Credit For Border Security Former President Joe Biden made one of his rare post-presidential appearances Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, stepping onto a stage at a downtown art museum to accept a lifetime achievement honor from the state's Democratic Party.  During the speech, Biden claimed that Donald Trump is rigging the 2026 midterms before a single vote has been cast.  "Here's the good news,” Biden told the crowd. “In America, the power still belongs to the people for now. And the way to show the power is vote, show up, and vote.

I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics Authored by Jonathan Turley, “Respectfully, f–k off.” Those words by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, summed up the current race to the bottom of American politics. Democrats appear in a competition of the profane where voters are now subject to a virtual carpet-bombing of f-bombs and other indecent language. Gardon’s response was to a standard media inquiry after Newsom’s controversial statement to a black interviewer. In an Atlanta event, Newsom declared: “I’m like you … I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy … literally a 960 SAT guy. You’ve never seen

Trump Admin Seeks Months-Long Pause For Tariff Refunds Just days after Senate Democrats introduced a bill seeking tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down many of President Trump’s (IEEPA-backed) tariffs, the Trump administration says it needs months of additional time to weigh its steps, as a wave of refund requests pours in from importers seeking billions of dollars in tariffs. The bill, sponsored by 22 Senate Democrats led by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue refunds over the course of 180 days and pay interest on

The Iran Question Is All About China By Zineb Riboua, author of Beyond The Ideological Iran is most often discussed as a nonproliferation problem, a sponsor of terrorism, a regional spoiler. Each of these framings captures a real problem, but none captures what matters most. The nuclear file, the militia archipelago stretching from Lebanon to Yemen, the question of Gulf security architecture: these only acquire their full meaning when read against the backdrop of Chinese grand strategy. Beijing has spent years and billions of dollars building Iran into a structural asset. Everything that follows in the Middle East flows from this fact. Which

Mid-Atlantic Braces For Another Winter Blast Before A Spring Warmup Winter in the Mid-Atlantic region is certainly winding down, and March is always an unpredictable month. Early next week, a fast-moving Alberta Clipper is forecast to bring yet another round of wintry weather to the region before a spring warm-up arrives by mid-month. Marko Korosec, lead forecaster at SWE, wrote in a new weather note that the Alberta Clipper is set to spread snow, ice, and freezing rain from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic beginning Sunday and continuing through Tuesday. Korosec continued: > A new winter storm will set the stage for another snowstorm

Trump Vows 'American Energy Dominance' In Texas Rally Ahead Of Primary Elections Authored by Travis Gilmore via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—President Donald Trump promised “American energy dominance” during a rally Friday at one of the nation’s biggest export hubs for energy and liquid natural gas (LNG) products.  President Trump speaks about the American energy industry at the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas on Feb. 27, 2026. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times “With the men and women here today, we’re unleashing America’s potential, strengthening our security, [and] increasing our prosperity,” Trump said.  “I’m delighted to be here at this national treasure, one

Israel Suffers Significant Casualties In Iran War Retaliation In a rare moment, Israel is confirming at least nine people killed and over 40 injured after an Iranian ballistic missile slammed into a residential area west of Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon. The missile impact was in Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, and according to Israeli media destroyed a synagogue and even caused damage to a bomb shelter beneath surrounding homes. There's a likelihood that the death toll throughout the country will climb given Tehran's ongoing massive retaliation. Impact site and scene of rescue operations, via X "The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it declared the

Hot Headline, Cooler Reality: What The PPI Really Shows According To Peter Navarro Authored by Peter Navarro via RealClearEnergy, The January Producer Price Index landed with a predictable media spin: “hotter than expected” and therefore proof that tariffs, Trump, and the so-called “new protectionism” are reigniting inflation. That narrative collapses under even modest scrutiny of the underlying data.  Start with the topline. Total PPI rose 0.5 percent in January, above the 0.3 percent consensus and following a 0.4 percent increase in December. On a year-over-year basis, producer prices are up 2.9 percent. That’s above expectations—but critically, it is still well below the 3.8

Equity Futures Slide, Oil And Gold Jump, But No Panic The widely anticipated Sunday night open of futures trading is here, and it is a bit anticlimatic. Yes, futures are broadly lower, oil and gold are higher, but there is no panic, and as Bloomberg's Mark Cudmore writes, most non-energy moves are relatively contained and almost everything has pared back from the opening extremes.  To wit, oil is up 8.5%. but it was up as much as 13% at the start of futures trading, so some profit taking off the bat. US equity futures down about 1% no, off their worst levels. Gold and silver both

The Microreactor Race Is On Authored by Duggan Flanakin via RealClearEnergy, For the past half century, successive Presidential administrations and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have thwarted the development of advanced reactor designs that might fulfill President Eisenhower’s vision for the “peaceful uses of atomic energy.” Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor, a cross-section of which is shown here. Westinghouse Electric Company That all changed last May, when President Trump issued four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating the U.S. nuclear energy industry. The Trump orders addressed advance reactor technologies – from microreactors to small modular reactors all the way up to advanced tech versions of the water-cooled reactors that

Beyond Phishing: The New 'Deepfake' And QR Code Credit Card Scams Of 2026 Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The newest credit card scam warning signs look different from old-school phishing emails. In 2026, face-tampered QR codes (“quishing”) in public places are a growing trend. Or an urgent phone call from what sounds exactly like your bank, but is actually an AI-generated voice clone. Man holds credit card upside down for shutterstock pic Some important scam warning signs are: * QR codes placed on stickers or layered over original signs * Payment links that redirect you to unfamiliar web

Few clues as to how 10 heavily armed men intercepted on stolen speedboat came together from across Florida or what they hoped to achieve Foot traffic was slow outside the Bay of Pigs Museum on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood. A few tourists in T-shirts and shorts bypassed the gallery dedicated to one of the most fateful days in Cuba’s history and headed instead to nearby Máximo Gómez Park to take photographs of Cuban exiles playing dominoes. This is the street at the heart of the Cuban expat community of more than 1 million people where tens of thousands partied

Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bank At least 20 people have died and dozens have been injured after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near Bolivia’s capital on Friday, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has said. Footage from local media showed people rushing to collect banknotes while police in riot gear tried to disperse them using teargas. Authorities were later seen setting the money alight in a bonfire at the scene of the crash. Continue reading...

As tensions between two countries reach new highs, US president says regime is ‘talking with us’ Donald Trump has suggested the US could carry out a “friendly takeover” of Cuba as tensions between Washington and Havana reach a new high after the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. As he left the White House for a campaigning event in Texas on Friday, Trump said: “The Cuban government is talking with us. They’re in a big deal of trouble.” Continue reading...

Second time in two weeks military used laser to attack what it mistakenly thought was a threat, disrupting air traffic * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Democratic members of Congress have expressed astonishment and anger at what they claim is the incompetence of the Trump administration after the US military used a laser on Thursday to shoot down what it thought was a threatening drone on the US-Mexico border in Texas but later turned out to belong to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The apparent confusion between two entities in the

Javier Milei’s boosters say law will revive employment, but critics decry cuts to severance and longer working hours Argentina’s senate is poised to approve a sweeping overhaul of labour laws aimed at weakening trade unions and lowering labour costs for businesses. The government of the self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” president, Javier Milei, says the initiative will help revive formal employment, after 290,600 registered jobs were lost between December 2023, when he took office, and November 2025. Continue reading...

Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challenge Some beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation. The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from New Caledonia riding a wing foil in a recreational area was attacked and killed. Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was attacked by a tiger

Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrests Police officers from Bangkok’s metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers. “The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did,” said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his

Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to power When North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power. But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers’ party congress – held over several days just once every five years – was a rare opportunity to speculate over the

Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: ‘Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the show. On Monday, the Gold Coast venue for the Shen Yun performances was forced to evacuate after a bomb

Exclusive: Former New Zealand PM ‘based out of Australia’, according to spokesperson, after rumours she was looking for houses in Sydney The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed. “The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian. Continue reading...

‘City-shaping’ transformation of industrial precinct to include more than 8,500 new homes and public waterfront access * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Sydney will get its first new inner city suburb – known as Bays West – in decades, giving public waterfront access to Glebe Island for the first time in more than 100 years alongside 8,500 new homes. The New South Wales government on Tuesday announced that a long-awaited overhaul of the government-owned land, directly above the under-construction Bays Metro station and near the western end of the Anzac Bridge, will go ahead. Continue reading...

Release of review delayed after former leader Peter Dutton raised concerns about some findings against him and his chief-of-staff * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner warned the Liberal federal executive that burying a review of the 2025 election defeat risked backlash from party members and in the media, exposing further internal splits over the move. As details of the report start to leak – despite the decision to keep them secret – Guardian Australia can reveal Greiner raised concerns about suppressing the report during Friday’s meeting of the

This blog is now closed * Pauline Hanson censured over Muslim comments but only two Coalition senators back motion * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Joyce says petrol prices will increase due to conflict Speaking with Tanya Plibersek on a Sunrise panel this morning, One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says Australia should focus on building up fuel supplies under risk due to conflict in the Middle East It’s a shame in a crisis like this that we’ve got ourselves down to two oil refineries, so that if there’s a crisis in the production of fuel, we’re in

It is Hanson’s second censure within four months, this time over comments questioning whether there were ‘good’ Muslims * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Pauline Hanson has been censured again by the federal Senate, with two Liberal senators crossing the floor to support a motion calling out the One Nation leader’s “inflammatory and divisive” recent comments about Australian Muslims. Hanson dismissed the motion – her second censure within four months, after her stunt of wearing a hijab in the parliament last year – as a “joke”,

Opposition leader suggests 23 children and 11 women attempting to leave al-Roj are Islamic State ‘sympathisers’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Angus Taylor has suggested the Australian children remaining in a Syrian detention camp are “Isis sympathisers” as the Liberal party ramps up its rhetoric against the families of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters. The opposition leader also chided a member of the press for attempting to force his response on why the group of 23 children and 11 women should be another country’s

17th-century Dutch master’s Vision of Zacharias in the Temple to go on display this week It hung unrecognised on the wall of a private home for decades but now a 17th-century painting has been revealed as a Rembrandt, taking its potential value from thousands to millions of pounds. The Rijksmuseum announced on Monday that it had rediscovered an early biblical scene by the Dutch master that was once thought lost, thanks to hi-tech scanning and two years of expert analysis. Continue reading...

EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warns against further escalation following US and Israel strikes on Iran A Cypriot government spokesperson has just confirmed that two unmanned drones headed to RAF Akrotiri were intercepted before reaching the base. “Two unmanned aerial vehicles that were moving towards the direction of the British Bases at Akrotiri were confronted in time,” Konstantinos Letymbiotis said. Continue reading...

Two more drones intercepted on Monday, authorities say, in what appears to be sustained targeting of base * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates A one-way attack drone struck the UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus at about midnight on Sunday, prompting a partial evacuation of the military facility. Two more drones were successfully intercepted on Monday morning, the Cypriot authorities said, as part of what appears to be a sustained targeting of the base on the third day of the war in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Former Oxford University professor and UK government adviser faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted The prominent Swiss academic and Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan will go trial in Paris on Monday on charges of raping three women in France between 2009 and 2016. Ramadan, who advised previous British governments on Islam and society, denies all the charges in a case that has been seen as one of the biggest repercussions of the #MeToo movement in France. Continue reading...

Grenade-throwing contests replaced PE and ‘denazification’ speeches became homework. Pavel Talankin’s undercover film about his school’s indoctrination drive won a Bafta and is tipped for an Oscar, but has left him in exile In order to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary in which many of them have starring roles, pupils at Karabash School No 1 have had to source bootlegged copies, viewing the film in private, on their phones or their laptops. Last week’s Bafta best documentary win for Mr Nobody Against Putin has been studiously ignored by Russian state media, and the prize the film won at Sundance last year was also

Defense secretary says that for ‘47 long years’ Iranian regime has waged ‘savage, one-sided war against America’ as he holds press conference with Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Hegseth said today that Iran was “building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions” and “had a conventional gun to our head as they tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb”. The defense secretary said that after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, the

Israeli military says fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says Kuwait * Podcast: The assassination of Iran’s ayatollah * Have you been affected by events in the Middle East? Bahrain has said that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile. The death of a foreign worker at Salman Industrial City, working on a boat there, marks the kingdom’s first reported fatality in the war. Bahrain, home to the US navy’s 5th fleet, said it intercepted 61 missiles and 34 attack drones launched against it. It said some shrapnel had gotten

Brent crude up 13% in early trading with markets under pressure as US-Israeli strikes on Iran effectively close strait of Hormuz to shipping * Business live – latest updates * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates Oil prices rose and stock markets came under pressure on Monday after intense US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted fears of significant global economic disruption. Brent crude jumped by as much as 13% during early trading – to hit $82 a barrel, a 14-month high – as the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, one of the most important arteries for global trade, intensified concerns

People drive to Oman and Saudi in hope of a flight, while most tourists stay stuck in hotels and on cruise ships * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates Iranian attacks on Dubai and the closure of its airport have triggered a scramble among the wealthy to leave the emirates via alternative routes on private jets. The normally glitzy city – a playground for billionaires, influencers and millions of international visitors – has been on edge since drones and missiles fired in response to US and Israel strikes on Iran damaged the airport and struck several high-profile hotels and landmarks. Continue reading...

Effects of extended conflict between US and Iran could also lead to higher interest rates and hit economic growth * Business live – latest updates * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates The impact of the deadly and unpredictable conflict in the Middle East on the global economy will be felt most immediately, and keenly, through the rising cost of oil. Prices jumped on Monday, as markets had their first opportunity to digest the weekend’s tit-for-tat attacks. A barrel of Brent crude oil was trading at about $79 (£59)by lunchtime in London, up about $6 or 8.5% on the day. Continue reading...

Sporadic clashes reported in several provinces in Afghanistan as both sides give conflicting death tolls Afghanistan has said it had thwarted Pakistan’s attempted airstrikes on Bagram airbase, the former US military base north of Kabul, as cross-border fighting between the two countries stretched into a fourth day. Months of clashes have flared up again since Thursday, when Afghanistan launched attacks along the frontier and Pakistani forces hit back on the border and from the skies. Pakistan has declared it is in “open war” with Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbour Washington endorsed Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” after it bombed major cities across Afghanistan amid heightened tensions between the two hostile neighbours. The Taliban government in Kabul stressed it was ready to negotiate on Friday as violence intensified between the two countries. Continue reading...

Military reckoned ‘good’ Afghan insurgents were separate from ‘bad’ Pakistani insurgents but distinction has blurred Days after the Taliban swept to power in 2021, Pakistan’s then spymaster appeared in Kabul on what looked to many like a victory lap. Sipping tea in the lobby of the Afghan capital’s fanciest hotel, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed told reporters: “Don’t worry, everything will be OK.” This week it became clear just how badly Pakistan had miscalculated how it could rely on the Taliban, as Islamabad unleashed airstrikes in Afghanistan and troops from both countries fought each other on the border. Continue reading...

Wave of strikes comes after Taliban forces attack Pakistani border troops following earlier action from Islamabad Pakistan has bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital, Kabul, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring that the hostile neighbours were in a state of “open war” as a cycle of retaliatory attacks escalated further. Witnesses in Kabul and Kandahar, the southern Afghan city, reported explosions and jets overhead until dawn, while the Taliban government said later that Pakistani surveillance aircraft were still flying over Afghanistan. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read our full report here Both sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures. Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured. The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de‑escalation, avoid further harm

US president also ‘very disappointed’ in Keir Starmer over UK government’s deal to hand Chagos Islands to Mauritius * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates The UK “took far too long” to allow US forces to use its airbases to attack Iran, Donald Trump has said. The US president added that he was “very disappointed” in Keir Starmer over the British government’s deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as a means to preserve the status of the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia, part of the Indian Ocean archipegalo. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves’s upcoming spring forecast has not led to slowdown, as property tax rumours did in November * Business live – latest updates * UK politics live – latest updates House prices in the UK increased in February, avoiding a repeat of the “negative speculation” that depressed the market before last November’s budget, as Rachel Reeves prepares to present the spring forecast on Tuesday. The average price of a home rose to £273,176 last month, up by 0.3% from the month before, according to Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society. It matched January’s monthly increase, and was above analysts’ forecasts of a

Exclusive: National Film and Television School introduces fully accessible accommodation and bursary scheme at its Beaconsfield campus For a long time, physically disabled students who dreamed of studying at the UK’s most prestigious film and TV production school had nowhere to stay in the local area. And when they commuted, they would encounter hundreds of inaccessible areas on campus. In an industry where just 12% of TV employees are disabled, compared with 18% in the labour market as a whole, something had to change. Continue reading...

Regulator looks into claim Hilton, InterContinental Hotels and Marriott could be sharing ‘competitively sensitive’ information via analytics tool * Business live – latest updates The UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into three of the world’s biggest hotel chains – Hilton, InterContinental Hotels (IHG) and Marriott – amid suspicions they could be sharing “competitively sensitive” information with each other. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating allegations that the businesses, which together operate more than 25,000 hotels worldwide, could be sharing information through the data analytics tool STR. CoStar, the real estate data firm

Hartlepool leaders ‘furious and appalled’ after meeting with Steve Reed about growing cost of social care The housing, communities and local government secretary has been accused by a Labour council of showing “arrogance, indifference and moral bankruptcy” towards children in social care. In an unusually forthright attack, Labour leaders of Hartlepool council said they were “furious and appalled” at Steve Reed after a meeting with him last week. A cross-party delegation had asked the secretary of state for £3m to help alleviate the growing cost of social care. Continue reading...

Civil rights leader will get final full honors from state where, in 1960, he led Black students into segregated library After a long career of fighting for civil rights, the Rev Jesse Jackson Sr is visiting his home for one last time to lie in state at the South Carolina capitol on Monday. The final full honors from the state where he was born is a far cry from his childhood in segregated Greenville, where in 1960 he couldn’t go inside the local library’s much better funded whites-only branch to check out a book he needed. Continue reading...

Trump cited debunked claims in video address that Iran was on verge of nuclear weapons to justify US casualties. Plus, the teacher who exposed Putin’s primary school propaganda Good morning. Donald Trump recorded a new video address yesterday, vowing to avenge three American deaths after the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran and accusing the Iranian regime of “waging war against civilization itself”. What is Trump’s plan? It’s unclear but he is under pressure to spell out his vision for Iran. Trump’s critics are demanding that the White House provide greater clarity about what comes next. Opponents and analysts say the lack of a

Activists who dispute safety of vaccines are pushing to limit immunization requirements in schools As South Carolina grapples with a measles outbreak that has infected nearly 1,000 people, groups with ties to the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, are pushing to eliminate immunization requirements that protect children. Activists are targeting vaccine mandates in states trying to tamp down measles as communities across the country struggle to stop the worst spread of the illness since the early 1990s. The Guardian found anti-vaccine groups are encouraging their followers to organize opposition to vaccine mandates in more than 20 states, including at least

Local crews rescued Andrew Giddens, 36, near a borrow pit after he faced freezing weather without food or water A Florida man who had been missing since Valentine’s Day was found over a week later trapped in mud up to his shoulders, authorities said. Andrew Giddens, 36, had reportedly gone several days without food or water by then, and officials ultimately rescued him in dramatic fashion to end his nightmarish ordeal. Continue reading...

Fears that decision to strike could be open-ended as Trump comes under pressure to spell out his vision for the country * US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump is under pressure to spell out his vision for Iran amid the ongoing attacks on the country and reports of the first American casualties since the launch of unprovoked US and Israeli military strikes. Trump’s critics are demanding that the White House provide greater clarity about what comes next. Opponents and analysts say the lack of a clear plan outlined so far

Following ⁠the killing of Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, many senior US ⁠officials remain sceptical that the US and Israeli military operation against the Islamic Republic would lead to a regime change in the near term. Before and after the start of the attack, US officials, including US President Donald Trump, had suggested that toppling the nation’s repressive governing system was one of several US goals, in addition to crippling Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear...

Oil prices rose by the most in four years amid the US-Israeli war on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for global crude supplies. Brent crude, the global benchmark, surged as much as 14 per cent to more than US$82 per barrel, the highest since January 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Shipowners and traders are largely avoiding the Strait of Hormuz that links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, which usually handles about 20 per cent of...

For years, India has prided itself on a foreign policy doctrine of “dehyphenation”: maintaining productive, parallel relations with conflicting countries such as Israel, Iran and the Arab Gulf states without letting any one bilateral tie poison the others. That doctrine is now being tested to the limit. The killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by US-Israeli strikes within days of Narendra Modi returning from a high-profile visit to Tel Aviv provided instant ammunition for the...

Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by US and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after US President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory’s reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward. Residents said they were scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people. COGAT,...

Oil prices surged by the most in four years on Monday as the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid a widening conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran brought tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill. Freight costs climbed sharply alongside crude, as traders swiftly priced in the war, which analysts say will have far-reaching consequences for Asia’s heavily import-dependent economies. Benchmark Brent crude jumped 13 per cent to a high...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Why China’s ties with Iran will endure despite death of Khamenei 2. Why China’s Myanmar dilemma still persists, 5 years and 1 election later 3. Cathay Pacific suspends all Middle East operations after US-Israeli attack on Iran 4. Indonesia is getting an aircraft carrier. The Philippines isn’t....

Kim Jong-un will have seen the footage. A supreme leader of nearly 37 years, killed alongside members of his own family. Citizens celebrating in the streets. Rivals already angling for a role in the political transition. If the US-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday was intended to send a message to the world, analysts say North Korea almost certainly received it. Though the lesson likely learned – do not negotiate with the US and never be in Iran’s position...

The United States unleashed an array of weaponry against Iranian targets on Saturday, including Tomahawk cruise ⁠missiles, stealth fighters, and for the first time ⁠in combat, low-cost one-way attack drones modelled after Iranian designs. US Central ⁠Command released photographs showing Tomahawk missiles, F-18 and F-35 fighter jets alongside details of the strikes on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Artificial intelligence The Pentagon used artificial intelligence services from Anthropic,...

Li Yanqing, executive vice-president and secretary general of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi), discusses the impact of US trade policies, global market cycles and China’s strategic pivot towards high-quality manufacturing. As a shipbuilding veteran who also serves as chairman of the ISO/TC 8 ships and marine technology committee, which oversees international standardisation for shipbuilding and marine operations, Li is a prominent voice for China’s industry on...

The United States and Israel’s military campaign against Iran entered a more volatile phase on Sunday, with Washington reporting its first casualties, Tehran widening retaliatory strikes across the region, and energy markets bracing for shock after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict – triggered by US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader and senior officials – is rapidly reshaping regional security calculations and global economic outlooks. Here are five key...

Venezuelan opposition leader and winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado said on Sunday that she will return to Venezuela in the coming weeks and that elections will be held in the South American country. Machado did not set a date for her return but said one of the objectives will be to prepare “for a new and gigantic electoral victory”. In a message shared on social media, the politician called on her supporters to “strengthen the unity of Venezuelans that began with the...

Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro demonstrated in cities across the South American nation on Sunday, as organisers hoped to build momentum for a right-wing victory in the coming presidential elections. Protesters draped in yellow and green – the colours of the national flag – took to the streets in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital Brasilia to voice their opposition to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who faces a tough re-election bid in...

As China’s leaders convene for the annual “two sessions” starting this week, the eyes of the world will be fixed on Beijing. This gathering is no ordinary policy meeting. Beyond setting the economic growth target for 2026, it will finalise the 15th five-year plan (2026–2030), a blueprint that will define the nation’s economic and social priorities for the second half of this decade. In an era of intensifying great-power competition, particularly with the United States, these decisions will shape...

Israeli and American authorities spent weeks tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sharing information that allowed the strikes to be carried out in a surprise daylight attack, according to an Israeli military official and a person familiar with the operation. The eventual barrage of US-Israeli attacks on Iran came so quickly that they were nearly simultaneous - with three strikes in three locations hitting within a single minute -...

Iran’s football federation president Mehdi Taj has given a bleak outlook regarding the World Cup in summer in the United States, Mexico and Canada the day after the US and Israel started air attacks against his country. “What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday. “The US regime has attacked our homeland and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.” Iran has been drawn into Group...

A gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah” killed two people and wounded 14 early Sunday at a Texas bar, a law enforcement official told Associated Press. The FBI is investigating the shooting, which erupted a day after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, as a potential act of terrorism. Police in Austin shot and killed the gunman, who used both a pistol and a rifle to carry out the attack, police said. The shooting happened outside Buford’s...

US President Donald Trump vowed to press ahead with a sweeping military campaign against Iran until US objectives are fully achieved, warning that additional American casualties were likely even as Washington intensified what he described as one of the largest offensives in modern history. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said in a video posted on social media, referring to the deaths of three US service members confirmed earlier by the US Central Command. “That’s the way...

The Turkish Journalists’ Union (TGS) on Sunday demanded the release of three journalists arrested in connection with footage filmed near a sensitive airbase that hosts US troops in southern Turkey. The footage was shot near the Incirlik airbase for Turkey’s independent Anka news agency as Israel and the US began striking Iran, which retaliated with missile barrages against Gulf states hosting US bases, and against Israel. The Turkish base, which has hosted US troops for decades, is a key Nato...

Iran has announced 40 days of state-mandated mourning for its Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose life and 36-year rule ended abruptly during the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes against his country. Satellite imagery captured the aftermath of a devastating strike on Saturday that killed the 86-year-old cleric: black smoke and heavy damage at his central Tehran compound. Khamenei’s death was confirmed by Iran hours after US President Donald Trump announced the killing and called him...

The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the latest US-Israeli strikes on the country has triggered not only a leadership vacuum but also a high-stakes test of whether the Islamic Republic’s system can endure without the man who dominated it for nearly four decades. Analysts said the immediate signs point less to collapse than to hardening continuity, at least for now, as security institutions close ranks, the battlefield expands and signs of internal rupture remain...

Belgium’s special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker from the ‘shadow fleet’ Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the government said on Sunday. Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation. “Today, a vessel from Russia’s shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea,” Prevot wrote on social media, thanking Belgian special forces for their “exceptional professionalism and courage.” Belgian...

Thunderous blasts ⁠and towering fireballs from Iranian missiles streaking across Gulf states vindicated their ⁠leaders’ long-held fears that Tehran can bring war to their doorstep, likely to harden Arab rulers’ support for US-Israeli strikes. Even in The Palm, Dubai’s swankiest resort, explosions rattled buildings and hit a luxury hotel, sending panicked residents running for cover as missiles and interceptors tore across the sky. Dubai’s landmark ⁠Burj Al Arab hotel and the airport, which...

The death of Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after almost 37 years in power raises paramount questions about the country’s future. The contours of a complex succession process began to take shape the morning after Khamenei’s assassination. Here is what to know: A temporary leadership council assumes duties As outlined in its constitution, Iran on Sunday formed a council to assume leadership duties and govern the country. The council is made up of Iran’s sitting president, the head...

With Saturday’s military operation against Iran, US President Donald Trump showed a dramatic evolution in risk tolerance, adjusting in just a matter of months how far he was willing to go in using American military might to confront Tehran’s clerical rule. Guardrails were tossed aside, as Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered up a battle plan that included targeted strikes on Iran’s leadership, including the 86-year-old Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death...

When targeted by nationwide protests early this year, Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of his nearly four decades in power. But now a US or Israeli military strike has ended his rule. Iran’s state TV confirmed Khamenei’s death on Sunday, a day after after US President Donald Trump said the 86-year-old was dead. Israeli officials also told reporters earlier that he was killed in a major new attack by US and Israeli forces. Khamenei tried to avert such...

On a visit to Texas on Friday, US President Donald Trump gave a raucous speech on the economy and then stopped off at a fast-food joint. “Hamburgers for everyone!” Trump declared to cheering customers at the Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, before the 47th president left clutching a bag with order No 47. Nine hours later, in the dead of night, Trump announced from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that he had ordered the start of a major attack against Iran. It was the culmination of a...

In international relations, interactions between states are often understood through a transactional lens. A transactional approach treats diplomacy as a series of discrete deals, short-term and conditional exchanges governed by a strict calculus of quid pro quo. Its focus is immediate gain and measurable returns. The turbulence in transatlantic relations over the past year illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. At the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, US...

The US military said on Saturday that it has been using single-use drones to attack Iran for the first time in combat, signalling adoption by the world’s wealthiest military of a technology already surging to prominence in the Ukraine-Russia war. “Task Force Scorpion Strike employed low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat,” US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement posted on social media. Centcom said the drones, which are expendable but cheaper than traditional...

The US-Israeli attack on Tehran on Saturday marks a turning point for President Donald Trump, who is wagering that a war – the kind he once vowed not to start – will strengthen his second-term agenda. In a break from his campaign promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, Trump decided to attack – despite what Arab mediators described as significant progress in nuclear talks to Tehran, and in the face of polling showing most Americans oppose fresh military action. It came less than two months...

Flights across the Middle East were being cancelled on Saturday as several countries slammed their airspace shut after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region. Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region, killing at least one, as witnesses...

Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US and Israeli air strikes on the weekend, raising questions for the next leader of a country in a region bracing for further attacks. US President Donald Trump called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and said the strikes delivered justice for Iranians, Americans and others “killed or mutilated” by him. As the US and Israeli attacks on Iran entered a second day, Tehran declared a seven-day public...

Iran responded to Saturday’s attacks by the United States and Israel as it had been threatening to do for months - by first launching a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel. It followed with strikes targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the United Arab Emirates killed one person, state media said. The UAE and Iraq shut down their airspace. Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying that...

The coordinated US and Israeli strikes inside Iran mark more than another episode in a long-running confrontation. They represent a structural escalation – one whose consequences extend well beyond the Middle East. This is not the start of a new war. It is the next stage in a conflict that has been unfolding since October 2023, gradually shifting from proxy exchanges and shadow operations to direct state-on-state confrontation. On February 28, Washington moved from strategic backstop to visible...

Starting before his first term, Donald Trump has issued a litany of threats against Washington’s arch-enemy Iran, while also urging it to talks. He warned in late January that “time is running out”, urging Tehran to “make a deal”. After indirect talks resumed between the two nations, he threatened Iran on February 12 with “very traumatic” consequences, giving them “10, 15 days, pretty much maximum” to reach an agreement. Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades cast Iran’s nuclear...

The massive US military presence in the Middle East, including warships, fighter jets and refuelling aircraft, lays the foundation for a major campaign against Iran. Here we examine key US military assets deployed in the region, after Washington launched strikes that President Donald Trump said were targeting Tehran’s naval and missile forces. Ships Washington currently has more than a dozen warships in the Middle East, including aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln operating in the Arabian...

The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday following failed negotiations and a crackdown on mass protests against the Islamic republic. Here are the key actors in the crisis: US President Donald Trump The president has sought to position himself as a global peacemaker, but on Iran he has taken a consistently hard line. Last year, his forces joined Israel’s war with the Islamic republic by conducting strikes on nuclear sites. During the mass protests that shook Iran...

China and South Korea have resolved a trade dispute over hot-rolled steel coils through a price-undertaking deal, mirroring the solution used in China’s electric vehicle (EV) stand-off with the European Union. Analysts say the deal, which will see exporters raise export prices to avoid anti‑dumping duties, could avert punitive tariffs and safeguard market access for Chinese exports. The China Iron and Steel Association said in a statement issued on Thursday night that it “welcomed and supported”...

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are locked in a widening tit-for-tat confrontation that neither side seems willing to defuse, analysts said, warning the exchanges risked settling into a prolonged conflict along one of Asia’s most volatile borders. Islamabad has vowed to keep striking military targets inside Afghanistan until the Taliban takes action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups Pakistan says operate from Afghan soil. Pakistani warplanes...

Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to overthrow their government after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran early on Saturday in what the US president described as “major combat operations”. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally … obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack...

A cargo plane carrying money crashed on Friday near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on the highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Defence Minister Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city near the capital of La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to...

The UN rights chief on Friday decried mounting threats to women’s rights worldwide, highlighting rampant femicide and horrific abuse exposed in cases like that of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk denounced “social systems that silence women and girls” allowing powerful men to abuse them with impunity. “Violence against women, including femicide, is a global emergency,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights told the UN’s...

Central Asia has long been someone else’s crossroads. Squeezed between an overbearing Russia to the north and an increasingly unstable Iran to the west, the region’s landlocked ex-Soviet republics have settled on a different solution: send railways south, through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, all the way to the Arabian Sea. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – Central Asia’s two largest economies – have in recent months struck preliminary multilateral agreements for the construction of two...

Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that foreign powers may seek to interfere in the country’s March 24 general election, singling out Russia as the primary threat but also flagging the US and China as potential sources of influence. In a statement published on Friday night, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service said it was “highly likely” that Denmark was a prioritised target for Russian influence activities due to the Nordic nation’s support for Ukraine. It also cited rising...

President Donald Trump told the US government on Friday to “immediately” stop using Anthropic’s technology after the AI start-up rejected the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models. Anthropic insists its technology should not be used for the mass surveillance of US citizens or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems, while the Pentagon says it operates within the law and that contracted suppliers cannot set terms on how their products are...

A New York businesswoman was sentenced on Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than US$30 million from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into American political campaigns, including a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump. Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit US$31.5 million, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims. The 54-year-old Oyster Bay resident, who has been detained since...

The Pentagon and Anthropic were close to agreeing on the use of artificial intelligence. But strong personalities, mutual dislike and a rival company unraveled a deal.

Heinous allegations have prompted state officials to restart an inquiry, which went cold in 2019, into the convicted sex offender’s lesser-known property.

Jackson, Wyo., has long been a refuge for the rich. But the last five years saw a boom in wealth of a kind never before seen. Across the country, the 2017 tax cuts minted hundreds of new billionaires.

The number of billionaires in the United States has soared, with nowhere feeling the effects quite like Jackson, Wyo. Here’s where all that money came from.

The case involves a Texas man charged after agents found drugs and a gun in his home and tests the constitutionality of the federal law.

The former president’s son says he is watching closely as the justices on Monday hear a case testing the constitutionality of the federal gun law used to convict him.

As podcasts and talk radio blur the lines between sports and politics, professional athletes — many of whom have found encouragement from President Trump — are running in midterm elections.

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, the Democratic and Republican races have become increasingly personal and contentious.

Global officials are expected to closely examine the $111 billion deal, which ties together two entertainment powerhouses, over potential competition issues.

Parents in China are turning to A.I. chatbots and other tools to help their children gain an edge and ease the fighting over homework.

This could be a pivotal year in shaping what role artificial intelligence plays in American schools. Some families want Mayor Mamdani to hit the brakes.

As Mr. Jackson’s body lies in state in South Carolina on Monday, the city of Greenville, where he fought civil rights battles, is wrestling with how to pay its respects.

Afghan officials said they had thwarted a Pakistani airstrike on the former U.S. base, Bagram airfield, amid an intensifying campaign that has targeted dozens of military sites across the country.

The Olympic athletes are the subject of uncomfortable public comparisons that present online narratives that overlap more than both sides may realize.

Ending the Islamic Republic’s regime will be long and arduous, but perhaps a softer version will emerge.

The old U.S.-led order is dead; the new one feels unstable and ominous, as if a storm could descend at any moment.

We have the latest news from multiple fronts in the Middle East.

The largest settlements, more than $24 million combined, went to two men wrongfully convicted of killing a French tourist in Midtown in 1987, an analysis by the Legal Aid Society found.

Carolin Widmann had to cradle her centuries-old, multimillion-dollar instrument during a flight to Germany. Her predicament resonated with musicians who have faced similar challenges.

Painted torsos, tulip skirts, Jazz Age style and more.

A jury will decide whether the music colossus, which owns venues, represents artists and operates Ticketmaster, is a monopoly, as the Justice Department contends.