Minimalist News

Nancy Pelosi Institute To Launch At UC Berkeley After Former Speaker Leaves Congress Authored by AG News Staff via American Greatness , Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will lend her name to a new institute at the University of California, Berkeley after retiring from Congress , with the university announcing it has already raised $35 million toward a $50 million fundraising goal. The Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy is scheduled to open in January 2027, when Pelosi is expected to leave Congress. According to the university, the institute will serve as a center for research, teaching and civic engagement

Meet The "World's Most Dangerous" Hotel That Leaves Guests Stranded 35 Miles Offshore A remote former Coast Guard tower off the coast of North Carolina has become one of the country's most unusual vacation destinations, with thrill-seekers paying to spend days stranded 35 miles out in the Atlantic on what's been dubbed the world's most dangerous hotel, according to the NY Post . Interest in Frying Pan Tower recently surged after charter captain Austin Aycock posted a TikTok showing six guests being dropped off at the rusting structure before he motored away, joking, "See you in a couple days!" The

As Democrats Freak Out Over Socialist Takeover, Kamala Harris Speaks With Zohran Mamdani In the same week Democrats began sounding alarms over radical left-wing revolutionaries gaining power and hijacking the party, there is a new report from Axios that Kamala Harris privately spoke with far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and held closed-door meetings with progressives, including pro-Palestinian activists, as she appears to lay the groundwork for a potential 2028 White House run. Axios reported, " Harris, who occasionally has texted with Mamdani in the past few months, called him two days after the mayor's handpicked candidates swept three

Copper Demand Surges, But Supply Deficit Is Hard To Solve, Expert Says Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times, The ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom underscores a harder-to-resolve supply issue for copper, according to veteran natural resource investor Rick Rule. Speaking recently with Siyamak Khorrami, host of EpochTV’s “ Market Insider ,” Rule said the increasingly energy-intensive lives people around the world are living have pushed up demand for copper. With companies and countries investing heavily in AI, future demand for the red metal will be “staggering,” he said. At the same time, the world, especially the United States,

Man Who Sued Pepsi Over Fighter Jet Finally Gets His Reward 30 Years Later Three decades after suing Pepsi for refusing to give him a fighter jet, John Leonard finally got a reward that may be even better, according to a post at Supercarblondie . Leonard became the center of one of advertising's most famous legal battles after taking a 1996 Pepsi commercial at face value. The ad, promoting the company's Pepsi Points loyalty program, jokingly claimed customers could redeem seven million Pepsi Points for a military Harrier jet. Rather than laugh it off, the Seattle college student raised enough

Vance Warns 'US Has Options' As Iran Rejects Direct Doha Talks - Trump Insists Diplomacy Is 'Very Good' Update(1315) : The American side is keeping up the illusion of progress on Iran talks, even as Tehran has once again on Wednesday confirmed no direct meeting has taken in place in Doha - nor are there plans for direct dialogue, its deputy FM has said. President Trump has simultaneously hailed "very good" talks on Iran in Doha - apparently just referencing envoys Witkoff and Kushner merely dialoguing with third country intermediaries. On the same day, Vice President JD Vance played a

20-Year Old US Citizen Charged In Israel With Spying For Iran Via The Cradle A 20-year-old US citizen living in Jerusalem is set to be charged with spying for Iran, according a police statement issued Tuesday, ahead of the individual’s indictment. The US citizen was detained by Israeli authorities on June 9, but the case is only this week being revealed. Israel's police say he maintained contact with an Iranian intelligence-linked handler . According to the police, he captured photographs and videos of "sensitive" Israeli sites . Getty Images The statement also claimed he received "dozens to hundreds" of dollars

Apple Negotiating To Buy Blacklisted Chinese Chips To Ease AI-Driven Shortage After raising prices on their entire product line last week as much as 50% thanks to "unsustainable" input costs from the memory cartel (SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron and Sandisk), Apple is in active negotiations to buy memory chips from two Chinese semiconductor manufacturers on the Pentagon's blacklist , aiming to diversify supply and mitigate the impact of sharply rising component costs triggered by surging AI demand. Adding to Friday reporting from the Financial Times , Bloomberg now reports that the iPhone maker is seeking chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies

Controversially, The Supreme Court Rules For Common Sense: Taibbi Authored by Matt Taibbi via Racket News , From Mother Jones yesterday: The science is far from settled about whether trans girls who have received gender-affirming treatment actually have a competitive advantage or pose a greater risk of injuring other players. But the majority opinion, by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, glosses over those unknowns - reasoning that "biological sex" is a good enough proxy for athletic ability for states to categorically ban trans girls from girls' sports. It was once uncontroversial to observe that testosterone gives athletes advantages. Baseball's steroid scandals were

The Elephant In The Room That Is Fraud Authored by Jack Hellner via AmericanThinker.com, There has clearly been trillions of fraud over the last several decades, and politicians in both parties have shown very little interest in rooting out the fraud until Trump. Somehow, most of the media and other Democrats aren’t too concerned with saving taxpayer dollars—they spend their time attacking Trump. The media and other Democrats were outraged when Trump spent $16 million dollars fixing the reflecting pool problems, and there was endless reporting, but there is virtually no outrage and minimal reporting on the endless fraud, no

TikTok Settles Lawsuit Accusing Social Media Giants Of Harming Florida Boy TikTok has reached a settlement with a Florida teenager who blamed the platform and other social media companies for fueling his addiction, leading to depression, anxiety, and sleep loss, just ahead of a trial to determine the industry’s part in the youth mental health crisis. The settlement, made public Tuesday, lays to rest claims against ByteDance’s TikTok related to the lawsuit filed by the boy. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Trials against Meta’s Instagram and Snap’s Snapchat remain scheduled for July in California. According to court filings,

"Utterly False": Musk Denies WSJ Report On SpaceX Handset-Like AI Device Musk Blasts WSJ's Reporting Elon Musk has called The Wall Street Journal’s story about a new SpaceX smartphone-like device " utterly false ." " There is no SpaceX handset-like AI device, as claimed in the article. Shame on WSJ for publishing fake news just for clicks ," the X account DogeDesigner wrote. BREAKING: Elon Musk has called the Wall Street Journal’s report “utterly false.” There is no SpaceX handset-like AI device as claimed in the article. Shame on WSJ for publishing fake news just for clicks. pic.twitter.com/EbBxw51W4Z — DogeDesigner

A Surveillance State On Wheels Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, Renting a car used to come with an element of fun. For a day or two you could be the pretend owner of a new car. It could be the sports car you have always secretly wanted, maybe in bright red. It could be a mighty utility vehicle you need instead of your 4-door sedan. In any case, it’s just interesting to experience a new and different car over a limited period, if only to mix things up a bit. I’ve always enjoyed this, until now. I

Northrop Grumman's Cryptic Online Post Has D.C. Looking Skyward On July 4 President Trump's July 4 Freedom 250 celebration on the National Mall is being described by the president as the "most unforgettable birthday party any country has ever seen." Focusing on the air show, called the "Salute to America 250 Aviation Spectacle," the event will feature military flyovers, first-time aerobatic demonstrations over D.C., music, ceremonies, and a fireworks show to top off the festivities. Expected aerial participants include the Navy Blue Angels, Air Force Thunderbirds, F-22 Raptor Demo Team, F-35B Lightning II Demo Team, F/A-18 Super Hornet Demo Team,

House Dems Launch Effort To Impeach Secretary Linda McMahon For Downsizing Education Department Authored by Jennifer Kabanny via The College Fix, A Democratic representative from Oregon, backed by numerous fellow lawmakers in the House, has filed articles of impeachment against Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon, alleging she is illegally dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici introduced the resolution last Thursday, arguing “I introduced an impeachment resolution because Secretary McMahon has made it her mission to close down the Department of Education, something she does not have the right to do.” The legislation is cosponsored by 16 fellow

Goldman Sachs Warns Oil Inventory Rebuild Won’t Prevent 2027 Supply Glut The global race to rebuild depleted oil inventories will not be enough to offset a massive glut that’s coming to the market next year, as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz appears to be headed toward normalization, according to Goldman Sachs commodity strategists. First, arguing the bullish side, stockpiles of crude and refined petroleum products in many parts of the world have been depleted to multi-decade lows after governments raced to release strategic stockpiles in March after the Middle East crisis trapped millions of barrels of daily crude and

Elon's Next Move: Your Money Authored by Adam Sharp via DailyReckoning.com, For years, Elon Musk has dreamed of turning X (formerly Twitter) into the “everything app”. Now that X is part of SpaceX (SPCX), and the combined company just raised $112 billion, the time looks ripe. Elon envisions X as a single place where you can bank, chat, earn, advertise, use AI, shop, and more. X Money is a key part of that vision. And we just got the first idea of what it will look like. The program just launched to a small group of users. To attract deposits,

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Ousts 15-Term Rep. Diana DeGette In Colorado Primary As we've been noting of late, the Democrats have a problem: socialists are on the move. The latest - in a striking upset , democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday's Democratic primary for Colorado's 1st Congressional District . The victory extends a recent winning streak for the party's left wing and hands Republicans fresh ammunition heading into the fall campaign. Democratic socialist Melat Kiros (L) ousted 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday's Democratic primary Kiros, a 29-year-old former attorney, defeated the 68-year-old

Did META Just Expose The First Crack In The AI CapEx Boom? If you're wondering why the Nasdaq is suddenly tumbling this morning, wonder no more... Nasdaq moves lower after Meta announces it has capitulated in the race to build a leading frontier LLM it is to build a cloud business to sell its excess AI compute , weighing on cloud peers like AMZN, ORCL, MSFT, neoclouds like Coreweave and Nebius (who will now be racing to the bottom for customers) and chip and memory names like NVDA, MU, INTO, as demand for their products is now likely to be

Is The SpaceX Asteroid About To Impact The TelCo & Cable Dinosaurs? Authored by Simon Duff via BondVigilantes.com, SpaceX’s IPO was a gargantuan event by any measure: US$75 billion proceeds raised, over US$2 trillion enterprise value, and an almost US$29 trillion total addressable market to feast on. Few other companies can rival its industrial span and potential seismic impact on consumers and competitors. SpaceX’s valuation is driven by its sci-fi AI segment replete with space-based data centres and moon bases. However, its more immediate impact maybe felt in the more down to earth world of telecom. SpaceX’s cash cow is

Trump and US officials opted to keep USMCA alive on short leash of annual reviews rather than longer term renewal Donald Trump has refused to renew the North American trade pact he once championed as his signature deal, opting instead to keep it alive on a short leash of annual reviews rather than committing to another 16 years. Wednesday was the deadline built into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for the three countries to jointly decide its fate, which is set to expire in 2036. Continue reading...

Three of the victims died from suffocation More than a million people gathered in Mexico City Four people died, three ⁠from suffocation, as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat ⁠said in the early ⁠hours ​of Wednesday. The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of fans had gathered to ⁠celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 32. Continue reading...

Country is first to join since Australia in 2015 as event director says it ‘continues to welcome the world’ Canada will ​join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced. Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member. Continue reading...

Anger at authorities and government grows as local people, volunteers and rescue teams continue search for survivors Four Venezuelan police officers have been arrested and are facing dismissal after being accused of looting cash from the rubble of a building that collapsed during last week’s devastating twin earthquakes . Local people and national and international rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the aftermath of the back-to-back quakes, which have killed almost 2,000 people, injured more than 10,000, and left tens of thousands missing. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: A country already in crisis since the removal of its leader earlier this year by the US, now has to find a way to rebuild with little state presence in evidence The shaking seemed to come from nowhere. In a moment captured by fishers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, two earthquakes struck seconds apart . Plumes of dust appear where buildings once stood in the recording as the camera rises and falls with the swell. The men rapidly head for the shore in search of their families. “I’m shaking,” says the cameraman. Since the quakes struck last Wednesday,

Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroad A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs

Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand energy shock, is now gaining from global solar and EV push China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report by the geopolitical consulting firm Asia Group concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict. Continue reading...

Police say there are similarities but no evidence of links between Thunchanok Donhomla’s alleged murder and two other deaths in past two years in same region Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Thai police are investigating whether an Australian man charged with murdering a 17-year-old girl could be linked to two unsolved cases in the region. Police colonel Anek Srathongyoo, a superintendent of Pattaya City police station, told the Guardian on Tuesday that although there was no evidence linking Simon Peter Carman to the cases in neighbouring regions, they were investigating the possibility given

Guo Wengui, who gained fans for criticising China’s Communist party, was found guilty in 2024 on nine charges including money laundering A US federal court has sentenced exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui to 30 years in prison, after he was convicted of defrauding thousands of people out of more than $1bn. In July 2024 , a jury unanimously found Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, guilty on nine of 12 charges, including securities offences, wire fraud and money laundering. The FBI arrested Guo, who is in his fifties, in March 2023 at his luxury Manhattan apartment

Two sides agree to try to make bilateral relationship ‘more balanced’ after weeks of threats The EU and China have agreed to enter three months of talks to try to avoid a trade war over the bloc’s €360bn (£310bn) annual import/export imbalance. In their first joint statement in seven years, the two sides agreed in Brussels to open a formal trade consultation after weeks of threats and recriminations from China if the EU imposed any measures to stop the flood of goods and components into the bloc. Continue reading...

Anika Wells introduced reforms to parliament more than three years after a landmark report. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast ‘Eight weeks to shred documents’: Wells on social media law delay The main reason for Anika Wells ’ media appearances this morning is to kick the Coalition and the Greens for sending that social media bill – increasing fines for platforms and handing the eSafety commissioner more power – into an eight-week inquiry. It’s not complex, and I think Angus Taylor should explain why he is honestly giving big tech

Fifteen-year-old unable to be saved after being left outside Craigieburn Community hospital Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two teenagers have been arrested after a 15-year-old boy was left for dead with suspected stab wounds outside a hospital in Melbourne. The boy was found critically injured outside Craigieburn Community hospital on Lygon Drive, in Melbourne’s north, about 7.50pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion hears how witnesses are subjected to hate speech amplified by misogyny Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Vile, threatening abuse is being levelled at witnesses to the antisemitism royal commission, the inquiry has heard, while a Labor MP has said attacks on his partner were heightened because they were stacked with misogyny. Meanwhile, data analysis has shown how quickly factual reports are transformed into conspiracy theories online, and that while there was a spike in antisemitism after the Bondi terror attack, there was a “huge spike”

Barney Glover, head of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, says he will provide advice about degree funding to the government next year Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The man tasked with reforming the controversial Job-ready Graduates (JRG) program says he will not recommend any interim measures to reduce the $50,000 cost of arts degrees, despite calling the scheme a failure. Under the scheme introduced by the Morrison government, costs for science and maths courses were slashed to encourage students to take up Stem subjects,

Calls are growing for new datacentre approvals to be halted until stronger protections are considered Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Reserve Bank and Transport for NSW have warned datacentres could take scarce land from logistics firms and housing developments, pushing up prices and overheating the economy, as calls grow for a national pause on the booming sector. The Reserve Bank board suggested rising investment in datacentres could add to inflation and had already put upward pressure on interest rates worldwide. Continue reading...

Multiple explosions heard in Ukraine capital with a hotel and several residential buildings on fire Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones overnight into Thursday, causing loud explosions and shaking Kyiv for hours. The intense strikes hit residential ⁠buildings and ⁠triggered ​a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard, injuring at least 11 people, according to Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Continue reading...

Yorgen Fenech, heir to property empire, on trial for alleged involvement in murder of journalist, which he denies One of Malta’s wealthiest businessmen plotted to kill the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, paying €150,000 (£130,000) for three hitmen to carry out the murder, a jury has heard. Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, is on trial for the 2017 murder. Continue reading...

Jury also finds Riad Bouchaker guilty of assaulting two other children and a childcare worker in 2023 stabbings A man has been found guilty of attempting to murder three children during a stabbing attack in Dublin in 2023, a crime that horrified Ireland and triggered a riot in the capital. A jury at the central criminal court on Wednesday also found Riad Bouchaker, 52, guilty of assault causing serious harm to a childcare worker, Leanne Flynn, and of assaulting two other children and a teenager. Continue reading...

Proposed development of protected shorelines and wildlife zones violates EU environmental policy, says MEP MEPs have warned Albania that EU accession talks are at risk if the government does not “change course” over plans for a luxury resort backed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Tineke Strik, the Dutch MEP heading a European parliament fact-finding mission to the Balkan nation, said Albania’s leadership was “playing with fire” by pursuing the €1.4bn (£1.2bn) real-estate venture that would, she said, wreak havoc on virgin coastline. Continue reading...

The climate crisis and worsening disparity could be responsible for more than 100,000 deaths a year in Europe, which should set off alarm bells for policymakers • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Call it a tale of two heatwave experiences. As brutally hot conditions brought much of western Europe to its knees, an American writer living in Paris asserted that , for many, the heat was not “nearly as apocalyptic” as most media were suggesting. He said he had yet to buy a fan, instead relying on closed shutters, misting sessions and open

US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz Iran is jealously competing with Oman as decision-maker over strait of Hormuz Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks. In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as

Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience. For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control. Continue reading...

Tehran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait amid efforts to open strait of Hormuz without Iran’s direct oversight Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”. On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war. Trump said

Document appears to have been subject to conflicting interpretations on key issues of Lebanon ceasefire and strait of Hormuz Middle East crisis live – latest updates The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war . It appears the deliberately opaque wording in the memorandum has been unable to withstand the pressure of conflicting interpretations, and as a result supporters of the deal inside Tehran are on the back

Iran attacked Bahrain and Kuwait after US strikes, and threatened a ‘complete halt’ to talks US and Iran trade strikes as both sides accuse the other of endangering ceasefire We will soon be closing this liveblog, but you’ll be able to stay up-to-date with our ongoing coverage of the Middle East here. Here is a summary of today’s events: Iran launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to US airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic , and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. US president Donald

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Continue reading...

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed as ‘gamechanger’ on air pollution The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...

Watchdog criticises ‘lack of proactive, effective casework quality assurance’ but says CCRC ultimately fit for purpose The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) must urgently improve its investigations to avoid a repeat of failings such as those in the Andrew Malkinson scandal, a watchdog has found. Anthony Rogers, the chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service, delivered the warning after carrying out an independent inspection of casework by the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice. Continue reading...

AI-generated overview found to gloss over allegations of sexual harassment and describes hotel being sued over hygiene as ‘spotless’ A hotel being sued for mass food poisonings was described as “spotless” and a resort where guests complained of sexual harassment by staff was praised for “friendly” service by an AI intended to summarise millions of Tripadvisor reviews. The overviews of customer feedback downplayed serious complaints, ranging from the stench of mould to a lack of mains water, according to an investigation by the consumer campaign organisation Which? Continue reading...

Body of 18-year-old man located after search involving Mountain Rescue, police and the fire service A student has drowned while on a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) trip in Wales, police have said. Emergency services were called to the River Wye in Glasbury, Powys on Tuesday evening after it was reported an 18-year-old male had entered the water and could not be found. Continue reading...

Analysis reveals extent of impact on NHS of placating Donald Trump over price of British medicine exports The NHS will have to divert £45bn from essential services to pay for new medicines under the terms of the UK-US trade deal agreed last December, leading to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths of patients, analysis has found. Ministers have defended the deal as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients in England access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied. Continue reading...

Boy, 16, in hospital with gunshot wounds after incident in Alum Rock area A teenage boy sustained “potentially life-threatening” gunshot wounds in a shooting near a mosque in Birmingham, police have said. Officers were called to reports of an incident on Bowyer Road, near St Saviours Road in the Alum Rock area, shortly before 5.30pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for US breaking news alerts email While fielding questions from reporters ahead of his flight to North Dakota today, Donald Trump batted down questions a bout the $1.2bn he earned from crypto businesses , according to his latest annual financial disclosure. “We have funds that run my money well. I’ve made a lot of money before I became president,” Trump said. “They’re big institutions, and they run it … I think it’s called a ‘blind account’, but they basically they take it, and I purposely I never speak to any of the

Statement comes a day after report that three messages received in case were determined to be fake The FBI is investigating extortion demands related to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance that “may potentially be legitimate”, the agency said on Wednesday. The update comes a day after Reuters reported that kidnapping notes received in Guthrie’s case were fake. Continue reading...

Bizarre 250th spectacle in North Dakota sees Trump take ride on red, white and blue train – and speak with hologram of 26th president The sound of YMCA by the Village People booming through the badlands of North Dakota could only mean one thing: Donald Trump’s 250th anniversary travelling circus had reached a remote corner of America more familiar with bison, wild horses and bighorn sheep. The US president visited Medora on Wednesday to dedicate a $450m library and museum honouring Theodore Roosevelt , the 26th president, in the region where he roamed as a cowboy and big-game hunter in

Pair also unfurled a large black banner displaying a message of peace on top of New York City landmark Two people were arrested following an apparent marriage proposal atop the Empire State Building’s spire on Wednesday, after they climbed to the very pinnacle of the New York City landmark – well above the level open to the public. The two people were identified as Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, two Russian “rooftoppers” who have conducted similar stunts in other cities including Tianjin, China, and Los Angeles. They were both wearing black clothing and appeared to be masked as they unfurled

Prosecutors said members of the a gang targeted about 51 underage girls and women along LA’s Figueroa corridor Ten people accused of facilitating a sex-trafficking operation that targeted about 51 underage girls and women have been arrested as California authorities conducted their latest operation to curb trafficking along the Figueroa corridor in Los Angeles, according to a Wednesday news release. Prosecutors said on Wednesday that members and associates of the south Los Angeles-based gang the Hoovers acted as pimps, recruiting minors and women, some of whom were runaways or foster kids, with the “false promise” of a better life or

A ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported on Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details. The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. A fifth of all oil and natural gas passed through it in peacetime. Since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Iran...

A Russian couple of daredevil artists climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City on Wednesday to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal that ‌ended in their arrests. Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus hung onto the landmark skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light at its tip some 443 metres (1,454 feet)...

A Maltese tycoon went on trial on Wednesday accused of ordering the murder of a hard-hitting investigative journalist that rocked the island nation, brought down a government and drew global condemnation. Suspect Yorgen Fenech is charged with orchestrating the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, a prominent public figure and vocal critic who was killed by a bomb placed in her car near her home. “Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial,” the...

US President Donald Trump flew for the first time on Wednesday aboard a retrofitted Boeing 747 that he accepted as a gift from Qatar. The luxury aircraft, reported to be worth about US$400 million, officially joined the Air Force One fleet last month. It had to undergo extensive modifications at US taxpayers’ expense, including security upgrades, before being cleared for use. Trump used it to fly to North Dakota to visit the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Trump accepted the jet in...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. With no team in World Cup, Chinese fans root for Ronaldo, Messi … and a referee Among the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to North America for the World Cup are countless Chinese supporters. Yet while China remains one of the world’s largest football markets, its presence at the...

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding...

At least five people have been killed and many injured in a fire in an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said on Wednesday. The blaze broke out mid-morning on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighbourhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement. An evacuation of the 10-storey building was under way. “Right now, unfortunately, at least 5 people have died in the fire. There are...

Power has historically been measured by indicators such as territory, population, industrial production, military capability and economic scale. Those foundations remain indispensable. But each technological revolution has changed the nature of geopolitical competition. The Industrial Revolution rewarded manufacturing capacity. The 20th century rewarded industrial scale, military mobilisation and ideological reach. Globalisation rewarded efficiency, integration and financial connectivity. The...

Indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, between officials from the United States and Iran aimed at ending the Middle East war have started, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed negotiations were under way after they earlier said the US and Iran were to hold “indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators”. The Doha talks are based “on the memorandum of...

Victor Willis, lead singer of the disco group Village People whose hit Y.M.C.A. became a fixture at rallies for US President Donald Trump, has died, his spouse said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS. Victor passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, as a result of a short, but aggressive illness,” the post on Willis’s official page said. The Texas-born musician, who was 74, was a co-founder of the Village People...

Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last ⁠month attributable to ⁠heat, official data showed ⁠on Wednesday, as a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) made it the second-hottest June on record. Data on the Health Ministry’s ‌daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed this June had the most deaths attributed to heat since the same month in 2015. Average temperatures last month were 3.2 degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said,...

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli air strikes, have been hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony. His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre...

It was the deadliest reported strike in the US-Israeli war against Iran, and most of the victims were children. Yet over four months since a US missile struck an Iranian primary school, there is no final accounting of what happened. The Trump administration has not directly accepted the blame, though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site had been struck, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Associated Press. Drawing from interviews with US officials,...

The US military has established a robust footprint of US forces in and around Venezuela to support relief operations, with over 900 personnel inside the country and another roughly 800 in Caribbean hubs Puerto Rico and Curacao, according to the top US general for Latin America. General Francis Donovan, the commander of US Southern Command, said US forces had participated in search-and-rescue operations, helped get the airport up and running and mobilised air and naval assets to ‌allow for the...

Oman Air is looking to capitalise ⁠on the Gulf ⁠state’s appeal as a largely ⁠untapped tourism destination as it launches flights from Muscat to Singapore on Thursday and considers an expansion to North Asia over the next year. The new nonstop Singapore service was underpinned by a lower cost ‌base and the airline’s year-old membership in the Oneworld alliance to aid with connections, as serving the city state with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur failed nine years ago, Oman Air CEO Con Korfiatis said...

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Belarus in June. He also travelled to North Korea on his first overseas journey this year and his first visit to Pyongyang since 2019. In total, 20 national leaders have met Xi in Beijing this year, including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The long list shows China’s growing global influence amid rising geopolitical tensions. Xi may meet Trump three more times this year. He...

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will undoubtedly mark a significant milestone for the city. The public consultation launched last month covers a range of issues, such as economic development, innovation and technology, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure and regional cooperation. The exercise offers a chance not only to discuss what Hong Kong hopes to achieve by 2030, but also how its success should be measured. That second question is perhaps the more important one. Hong Kong has...

A technical error caused a Tel Aviv-bound flight to report a hijacking Tuesday that led to Israeli and Bulgarian jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft, Bulgaria’s transport ministry said. An airport official earlier said that the Bulgarian company operating the Airbus A320 blamed pilot error. Bulgaria’s transport ministry said, however, in a statement: “The reason for the diversion is a technical failure of the aircraft’s transponder, which transmitted a false signal of unlawful...

US President Donald Trump reported more than US$1.4 billion in income from his ⁠family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how he now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefited from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday. The filings, his annual disclosure for 2025 with the US Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that his companies received almost US$800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons...

A person admitted to hospital in Scotland with suspected Ebola has tested negative, as central Africa continues to face a deadly outbreak of the virus. The person arrived at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday, according to a BBC report. A representative for the hospital declined to comment. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said in a statement a person was tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure. The government health agency said there are no confirmed cases in the...

When I was still working from the South China Morning Post’s office in Hong Kong, I fought with my expat colleagues throughout the summer over control of the thermostat. There were basically two tribes. I generalise here a bit, but essentially the locals wanted it freezing, which admittedly was bad for the environment and rather excessive. The expats, however, wanted it just a few degrees lower than outside, which seemed to defeat the purpose of air conditioning. When my late boss Simon, who was...

The United States was expected to formally decline to extend its free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada on Wednesday, starting a years-long process that could wind down the trade zone unless the three governments agree on sweeping changes. Trade chiefs from the three countries were due to meet virtually on the sixth anniversary of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, with Washington widely expected not to confirm that it wants to keep the pact in its current form. The move stops short...

Blake Lively is seeking US$8 million in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after resolving their dispute over the acrimonious production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us. Lively’s lawyers disclosed the amount, covering nearly US$7.5 million in lawyers’ fees from two law firms that represented her and about US$500,000 in other expenses, in a court filing on Tuesday. Lively and Baldoni settled last month just before a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan on Lively’s...

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday against a renewed debate in favour of the death penalty and said he was appalled by the rising number of executions around the world. Addressing the ninth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris, Macron said opposition to capital punishment is needed “because today this debate is resurfacing in our societies”. “Because today many in our societies once again believe that the death penalty is a solution, amid a confusion of principles...

Almost 1,700 British ⁠investors are suing ⁠Binance and founder ⁠Zhao Changpeng for at least £150 million (US$200 million), alleging the crypto trading platform sold them risky, complex derivative products without regulatory authorisation. The claimants, some ‌of whom said they had lost tens of thousands of pounds, allege Binance entities knowingly sold investments such as leveraged products, which can amplify gains or losses, from late 2019 and promoted ⁠them in breach of the Financial Services...

Britain said on Tuesday it could intervene in Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, potentially holding up the US$110 billion deal after the US and China gave it the green light. The move could see the deal referred to the UK’s antitrust regulator, which made headlines in 2023 when it blocked Microsoft’s US$69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard to the fury of the two US companies. It later changed its mind after Microsoft amended its...

The US Supreme Court has again struck down campaign spending limits, this ⁠time rejecting federal restrictions on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates on free speech grounds. The ruling on Tuesday comes as major Republican committees head towards the November midterm elections with a significant cash advantage over their Democratic counterparts. Siding with Vice-President J.D. Vance and other Republican challengers, the court ruled 6-3 that a cap on the amount of...

The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for ⁠states to impose restrictions on transgender student athletes, upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho banning them from female sports teams. It delivered a major victory to conservatives in one of the country’s most fiercely contested culture-war battles. The justices overturned decisions by lower courts siding with transgender students who challenged the bans in the two states as violating the US Constitution and a federal...

Almost a week after two devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, survivors were still being found alive by rescuers that have come from abroad to help. Salvadorean rescuers reached a 44-year-old man trapped under the rubble of a shopping centre in the coastal city of Maiquetía in the early hours of Tuesday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele wrote on the platform X. The man had been supplied with water through a tube while rescuers found a way to reach him safely. Workers from the Ecuadorian...

The Russian luxury yacht Graceful, said to be the personal vessel of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has appeared on radar for the first time in almost four years, Danish public broadcaster DR reported. According to data from Marinetraffic.com, the vessel sailed along the northern coast of Denmark on Monday. DR reported that from Sunday morning it had been accompanied by two Russian warships as well as alternately by the Danish navy and the German coastguard. “The armed forces routinely...

When people talk about the race for artificial intelligence, they usually focus on software. Headlines revolve around ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek or the latest breakthrough model. Governments announce AI strategies and investors pour billions into start-ups promising to transform everything from medicine to education. Nonetheless, the most consequential battle in the AI age may not be over algorithms at all. It may be over the machines. Behind every chatbot response and AI-generated image lies a...

Iraqi oil stranded by the Middle East conflict has escaped the Persian Gulf over the past ten days as transit via the Strait of Hormuz eased during an uneasy US-Iran ceasefire. Vessels carrying about 14 million barrels of Iraqi oil exited the Gulf in the latter part of June and are now carrying crude to buyers in Asia, Europe and the US, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That is the equivalent of about 1.4 million barrels a day over the 10-day period. All cargoes loaded...

Thousands of people joined anti-migrant protests in South Africa on Tuesday, watched over by a massive police contingent that was deployed to prevent violence and intimidation. The demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, the port cities of Durban and Cape Town and other towns were called by an organisation known as March and March to demand that all undocumented foreigners leave the country. The rallies, which marked the culmination of weeks of protests that have displaced thousands of mainly...

Self-flying fighter jets, uncrewed submarines and drones are at the centre of Britain’s future military under a defence plan announced on Tuesday that reflects a world of conflicts transformed by technology. Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who is expected to leave office next month after losing the support of MPs – unveiled his long-delayed Defence Investment Plan. Defence spending will ⁠increase to nearly £80 billion (US$105.85 billion) a ‌year by 2029, putting it on a ‌path to hit three per cent...

When late Venezuelan ⁠leader Hugo Chavez built this coastal housing development bearing his name as part of his socialist revolution, residents found ⁠a fresh start after deadly floods had decimated the area more than a decade earlier. But after two back-to-back earthquakes flattened parts of the 1,100-unit complex last Wednesday, engineers have urged the Venezuelan government to swiftly audit similar public housing that is still standing. “I lost my whole apartment,” said Yelsa Rojas, who since...

A passenger jet reported striking a drone while approaching JFK International Airport on Monday, and just hours later, a helicopter pilot alerted a close call with a remote-control plane near the same airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the first incident that happened as a JetBlue plane passed through 3,000 feet (914 metres) Monday morning while it was crossing the coastline. The plane landed safely in New York without any additional help, and no damage was found when...

A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in a US prison for a massive financial fraud that a federal judge said cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars. Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a US-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed with his supporters by Judge Analisa Torres. She said he “preyed on those seeking...

The parents of a seven-year-old Michigan boy who weighed 116kg (255 pounds) when he died have been charged with murder, torture and child abuse, prosecutors said. “Clearly the parents were feeding the child improperly, to say the least,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said on Monday. “He wasn’t getting the nutrition he needed.” Casper O’Brien died in November after first responders were called to the family’s home in Flint because he had stopped breathing, prosecutors said. His parents –...

A blast from an explosive device wounded Ukrainian oligarch Vadym Yermolaiev and two others in Monaco on Monday, authorities said, in a “deliberate” act unprecedented in the principality. Three people including a teenager were wounded in the explosion that struck around 9pm local time in a residential building on a street along the border with France. A source close to the investigation who asked not to be named said that one of those wounded was Yermolaiev. Monaco’s Minister of State Christophe...

Peru’s conservative president-elect Keiko Fujimori vowed to restore “order and hope” as final results showed she narrowly won the election in the latest victory for a resurgent Latin American right. She inherits the task of running a country hit by powerful organised crime gangs and chronic political instability, as it burned through eight presidents in the past decade. Her win also means the name Fujimori is back in the presidential palace more than two decades after the fall of her late...

More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble, according to survivors. A deportation flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes. On board were 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and seven children, according to ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First, which tracks deportation flights. They were...

Lutao Cen was swimming off Margarita Island, where he has lived for four decades, when twin earthquakes measuring above magnitude 7 struck northern Venezuela within two minutes. Only after returning to shore did he learn what had happened. Messages flooded his WeChat feed. Friends in Caracas, Valencia and Maracay described buildings collapsing and streets filled with dust. Then came the news he had feared most. A close friend in La Guaira, chairman of the local Chinese association, had been...

The recent visit of Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, carried the task of accelerating the development of the Northern Metropolis. This is not another urban expansion, but a strategic test of whether Hong Kong can reinvent its role in the nation’s innovation landscape. At its core, the Northern Metropolis bears a dual mission. For Hong Kong, it must become a growth engine, creating a third curve of development, beyond finance and real estate, by nurturing original...

Alex Murdaugh was back in court Monday on charges he killed his wife and son, appearing silently at a pretrial hearing that was mostly short on substance but long on spectacle as the true-crime sensation continues to captivate. Murdaugh’s murder convictions and sentence of life in prison were overturned last month by the South Carolina Supreme Court. On Monday, a new judge laid out a timeline for hearings set the retrial to begin April 5. She also nailed down deadlines for making sure the...

Swiss authorities on Monday returned 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria in a ceremony at the National Museum in Lagos, the latest addition to the nation’s growing collection of repatriated treasures. Countries across Africa have been pushing in recent years for the restitution of artefacts and artworks taken during the colonial period – including Nigeria’s famed Benin Bronzes, which were looted as spoils of war by the British and today are scattered in museums and private collections across the...

A wave of outsider fervor has already knocked out a number of incumbents in primary races. Several more face spirited opposition.

The ruling, based on agreements the service made in a 2021 legal settlement, was the second time a judge has blocked new curbs by President Trump on voting by mail.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had warned hours earlier that Russia was preparing another “massive strike” on Kyiv.

Ten writers on the films that get at the hopes, dreams, heartbreak and hilarity of the U.S.A. as it turns 250.

President Trump seems to have turned swaths of the city into either a construction zone or an armed camp as he seeks to prove that he alone can improve it.

President Trump flew into town on the new Air Force One and spent time touring the library dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, whom he called “a great he-man.”

In moving to ban a potent synthetic version of kratom, the president’s team paved the way for more sales for makers of rival botanic supplements, who had aggressively lobbied for the change.

The agency pointed to crumbling infrastructure, chronic staffing shortages and budget shortfalls as it moved to cut costs.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pressed President Trump earlier to cripple Iran. But as Iran asserted its power, the prince urged a cease-fire, and is now pursuing his security priorities.

The vice president, a staunch critic of foreign wars, accused the president’s detractors of trying to prolong a conflict the administration was trying to end.

Law enforcement officials in the city are preparing to monitor the pop star’s two-day event at Madison Square Garden, and several streets in the area will be closed.

What would a prenuptial agreement between one of the world’s biggest pop stars and a three-time Super Bowl champion look like? Legal experts weigh in.

Part activist, part influencer, Adina Sash will do anything to rescue Orthodox women she sees as trapped in their marriages.

Federal officials in Los Angeles described gang members’ yearslong scheme that relied on social media and physical violence to recruit and maintain control of the girls.

Musk insists that his demolition of humanitarian aid didn’t cost lives. So I propose he take a trip with me.

What drives these men to reproduce at an industrial scale?

After two extreme climbers ascended the landmark’s 200-foot needle, one proposed to the other, before they were apprehended by the police.