Minimalist News

US Arrests & Boots Soleimani's Fashion Designer Niece From The Country The Trump administration is rounding up family members of notable Iranian government figures, accusing them of spreading 'pro-Tehran propaganda'. And apparently this is even if the Iranian officials in question are deceased. The State Department confirmed an unexpected development on Saturday, announcing that the niece of the late Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is being booted from the country. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested Friday night, and their permanent residence status has been revoked - now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Maj. Gen. Soleimani was the

Dems' Ballroom Hate Is the Saddest Proof Yet of Their State of TDS Mental Unwellness Authored by Stephen Kruiser via PJMedia.com, There was a time not so long ago when the Democrats were formidable and — I'm not kidding here — occasionally enjoyable political foes. During the Tea Party years, we would often encounter Dem activists and hang out with them for a while. Sometimes we would even socialize. The Democrats of recent yesteryear bore no resemblance to the feral, frothing rage mob that the No Kings/Resist Dems are today.  It's both stunning and depressing that America's oldest, continuously-running political party could undergo

Iran Scrambling To Restore Bombed Missile Bunkers Within Hours After Being Struck Iran's resilience after more than a month of very heavy US-Israeli bombing has become obvious. The country's somewhat ancient air force and navy have been largely obliterated, and yet all the while the Iranian military has kept up intense ballistic missile and drone strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Tehran's missile arsenal is what is understood to have always been formidable. And now US intelligence has freshly assessed that Iranian personnel are busy excavating bombed underground missile bunkers and silos and restoring them to operation within a mere hours of

DHS Rescinds Policy Requiring Secretary Review Of Contracts Above $100,000 Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a policy on March 31 that required the department secretary to personally approve every contract and grant exceeding $100,000. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued the reversal across all DHS components, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The change ends an earlier directive from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi

Artemis II Now Closer To Moon Than Earth Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times, Artemis II’s four moon-bound astronauts are officially closer to the Moon than the Earth. Mission Control confirmed the milestone to the crew at 10:59 p.m. CT on April 3, three days into their historic flight around the moon. As of 11 p.m., NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and their Orion spacecraft Integrity were more than 136,000 miles away from the Earth. This point was also far beyond the halfway point of the more than 252,000 miles they will ultimately

Gen Z Women Are Ditching The 'Girlboss' Lie For Tradwife Life, Putting Family First Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Gen Z women are rejecting the decades-long feminist push that told them family comes second to careers or ‘fame’ and ‘independence’ at all costs. Fox News host Lara Trump breaks down the new reality playing out among young women. The clip highlights a fresh EduBirdie study showing young women ranking their dream lives, with the “tradwife” path—stable marriage, children, and a focus on home and family—coming in at a commanding 47 percent. The old “girlboss” dream of luxury, money, and solo hustle scores just 23 percent. > 🚨

Major US Shale Producer To Boost Output, And It Suggests One Thing Last month, roughly three weeks into the U.S.-Iran conflict, UBS chief economist Arend Kapteyn told clients that one reason this Middle East energy shock is "not like the 2011-2014 shale boom" is the lack of a comparable response from the U.S. shale patch. In other words, the oil shock was viewed as temporary by major shale players and not worth adding new drilling rigs to the mix. But now, on day 35 of Operation Epic Fury, that assumption about a less responsive U.S. shale patch in the face of soaring

FBI Arrests Eight Suspects In $60 Million LA County Over Hospice Fraud Authored by Madeline Shannon via The Center Square, The FBI made multiple arrests Thursday in Los Angeles County in connection with allegations over a total of $60 million in hospice-related Medicaid fraud. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrests for Operation Never Say Die during a news conference. “Federal agents from multiple agencies descended on fraudsters throughout Southern California, executing multiple arrests and search warrants,” Essayli told reporters. > Early this morning, the FBI and partners arrested 8 of 15 defendants charged in connection with 9 separate health care fraud investigations focusing on hospice fraud and other schemes. The arrests

Trump Reminds Iran "48 Hours Before All Hell Will Reign Down" As Search For Missing US Pilot Continues SUMMARY * President Trump reminds Iran of deal timeline, threatens "all hell will reign down" if time runs out. * Israel launched heavy strikes on Tehran, targeting Iranian air-defense and ballistic-missile sites, while a projectile also hit the perimeter of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant * The U.S. military continued search operations for an American airman who ejected after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iran *  *  * PRESIDENT TRUMP REMINDS IRAN OF TIMELINE, THREATENS "ALL HELL WILL REIGN DOWN" As the long weekend

Downed U.S. Drone Appears On TikTok Live As Iraqi Children Try To Sell It As the U.S.-Iran conflict enters its second month, America's Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, is becoming increasingly visible across the Middle East theater, a sign that the Department of War has learned one critical lesson from both the Iranian drone playbook and the Ukraine-Russia war: cheap drones are the future of warfare. The latest news on LUCAS comes from an unverifiable TikTok video, amplified on X, which appears to show a downed drone seized by Iraqi children who are reportedly trying to sell it. If authentic, the

How Will AI-Driven Automation Actually Affect Jobs? Authored by Alex Imas and Soumitra Shukla via Ghosts of Electricity, One of the most widely cited findings in AI policy comes from a 2023 paper by Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, and Rock titled “GPTs are GPTs.” The title is a nice double meaning: the paper studies how general-purpose technologies (GPTs) powered by large language models (also GPTs) may reshape the labor market. The headline finding is that around 80% of U.S. workers could have at least 10% of their tasks affected by LLMs, and roughly 19% may see half or more of their tasks impacted.

Netanyahu Boasts 70% Of Iran's Steel Production Capacity Destroyed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in Friday remarks that Israeli airstrikes have wiped out roughly 70% of Iran's steel production capacity, dealing a major blow to its ability to manufacture weapons - from missiles and drones to ships. "Together with our American friends, we continue to crush the terror regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructures," Netanyahu began in a video statement. Illustrative image, via Steel Radar "In recent days, the Air Force has destroyed 70% of Iran's steel production capacity," he added. "This is a tremendous achievement that deprives

Poland: Pedophilia, Bestiality Scandal Hits Tusk's Party Via Remix News, The Kłodzko scandal could bring down the Civic Coalition (KO). This is the view of PiS candidate for prime minister, Przemysław Czarnek, despite the localized nature of the crime. “This is a group of people who really have a lot on their minds,” the politician says. A pedophilia and zoophilia scandal in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship has shocked Poland. Przemysław L., 45, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexual offenses committed against underage girls, bestiality, and recording these acts on film and in photographs. According to Do Rzeczy, his ex-wife, Kamila L., a former Civic

Navy's Top Officer Admits Ford Carrier Fire Halted Its Combat Sorties For Two Days More details continue to belatedly come out in piecemeal fashion related to the Navy's largest and most expensive supercarrier, the USS Gerald R Ford. It has withdrawn from the Iran theatre of operations and Mideast regional waters, now anchored in Croatia (Split) for largescale emergency repairs, after a March 12 fire which the Pentagon has said was non-combat related left some sailors with minor injuries. New information has been disclosed by no less than the US Navy's top officer. He has described in fresh remarks that the USS

What Might Transatlantic Security Look Like If The US Leaves NATO? Authored by Andrew Korybko, If NATO as a whole remains more or less intact upon the US’ hypothetical exit, and the US then reaches bilateral security deals with Poland, the Baltic States, and Turkiye, then not much would change from Russia’s perspective. Trump’s latest talk about the US leaving NATO is being taken seriously by many Europeans owing to his rage over their refusal to help him reopen the Strait of Hormuz, not to mention them denying the US access to its own bases on their territory and even their airspace for use in the Third

Has Concern Over Hormuz Made Us Forget The Red Sea? Authored by Gregory Copley via The Epoch Times, Wartime concerns about the security of maritime energy traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—connecting the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf—have overshadowed the fact that the related issue of Red Sea security is far from resolved and is, in fact, becoming more dynamic. The Red Sea–Suez link between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean is of equal strategic importance to global trade as the Hormuz choke point and is, through geography and common players, intrinsically linked with the Persian Gulf conflict. But it is

America Dependent On Chinese Electrical Parts For AI Build-Out The race for U.S. leadership in AI is hitting a tangible wall made of steel, copper, and imported circuit breakers. Trillions in planned spending on data centers are running up against chronic shortages of transformers, switchgear, and batteries, the unglamorous gear that actually delivers power to the racks.  > AI Takeover Complete: Data Center Construction Surpasses Office Construction For The First Time https://t.co/g5WxE9glY3 > > — zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 27, 2026 Domestic production has not scaled anywhere near fast enough, leaving developers with little choice but to lean on overseas suppliers, predominantly from China. The

Forget Minnesota - The Amount Of Fraud Uncovered In California Is Staggering Authored by Christopher F. Rufo, Ryan Thrope, Kenneth Schrupp & Haley Strack via City Journal, California is a cash machine. The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year. And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart. The roads are crumbling. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones. And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of

Colorado Forces Lawyers To Swear They Won't Help Feds Nab Illegals Lawyers in the Mile High State are now being strong-armed by Democrats into signing a radical anti-immigration-enforcement pledge just to do their jobs. Starting March 30, 2026, every private attorney logging into Colorado’s official Courts E-Filing system (CCE) must certify - under penalty of perjury - that they will never use or share non-public personal information from court records to assist federal immigration authorities. Refuse? You’re shut out of the system entirely. No filing lawsuits, no checking case files, no representing clients in state court. Period. The certification reads in part: “I certify under

Micro AI Sentry Guns May Be Next Layer Of Defense For Data Centers Against Kamikaze Drones Submitted by Cameron Rowe, Co-Founder and CEO of Sentradel,  Most people don’t think about what the “cloud” actually is. It’s a physical building full of servers storing everything from your medical records to your social media. Every Google search, every ChatGPT query, every hospital pulling up your health history routes through a data center. Right now, those buildings have about as much aerial protection as your local Costco. In March 2026, Iranian Shahed drones struck three AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain. Multiple availability zones went

Despite hostile rhetoric Trump let a Russian ship break his blockade – could it herald a Venezuela-style outcome? When a sanctioned Russian oil tanker, the Anatoly Kolodkin, docked at Cuba’s Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, unloading 700,000 barrels of crude, it was not immediately clear why the ship had been allowed to pass through Donald Trump’s oil blockade. In January, the US president had proclaimed on social media: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” yet last week he told reporters, “If a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no

Initial reports suggested parts of arena’s wall had collapsed, but Alianza Lima says there were no structural failures One person has been killed and dozens more injured at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium in Lima, Peru, according to the football club Alianza Lima. Hundreds of fans were attending a “flag-waving event” on Friday around the stadium, a day before a derby match between the home team Alianza Lima and local rivals Universitario de Deportes. Continue reading...

Havana makes a Holy Week ‘humanitarian’ gesture as Russian tanker is allowed to reach oil-starved island * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Cuban authorities have begun to free prisoners after announcing they would pardon 2,010 inmates, the second release in less than a month as the country faces heightened US pressure. More than 20 inmates emerged from La Lima penitentiary in east Havana on Friday, holding their release papers, crying and hugging relatives who had been waiting for them all morning. Continue reading...

Tania Warner is fitted with ankle monitor and released along with seven-year-old daughter Ayla Luca after being deemed not a flight risk A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter, who were held for nearly three weeks in a notorious detention center by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were released on Thursday evening after posting a bond of $9,500. Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca, originally from British Columbia, are both Canadian citizens. Warner moved to the US in 2021 when she married Edward Warner, a US citizen. “Very happy to have my family home … it’s been a whirlwind day,”

A Radio-Canada reporter noticed his maple syrup tasted odd; testing revealed it was adulterated with cane sugar An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a major Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the fraudulent product to grocery chains. In a sting operation that involved false identities and covert recordings, journalists from Radio-Canada’s Enquête programme found that a low-cost syrup sold in major grocery store chains was heavily diluted. Continue reading...

From farms in New Zealand to factories in Delhi, the effects of the oil crisis triggered by the Iran war are rippling across Asia Continue reading...

Quake with epicentre west-north-west of Ternate island shakes cities and prompts regional tsunami warning One person has been killed after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Ternate island, damaging buildings and triggering small tsunami waves. The quake, which had a depth of 35km, occurred on Thursday at 6.48am local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. Its epicentre was 127km (79 miles) west-north-west of Ternate, an island in Indonesia’s North Maluku province. Continue reading...

Agreement comes after Wellington halted millions in aid to its former colony after Cook Islands formed strategic partnership with Beijing New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a defence and security declaration, ending a year-long diplomatic row that erupted after the Cook Islands struck strategic agreements with China. The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-65 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in “free association” with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations to regularly consult on matters of defence and security. Continue reading...

Distressed riders who were stranded for hours say Apollo Go customer service agents offered ‘useless platitudes’ A “system malfunction” has caused several self-driving robotaxis to stall in the middle of the road in China, police have confirmed, after distressed riders were stranded for hours. Local authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said they began receiving calls “one after another” on Tuesday night from riders reporting that autonomous vehicles operated by the Chinese internet company Baidu had frozen. Continue reading...

South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plants Governments across Asia are ramping up their use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as they try to cover huge energy shortfalls triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. The move has triggered warnings from climate experts who point to coal’s devastating environmental impact, and say the energy crisis should be a wake up call for governments to invest in renewables, which can offer a more stable supply that is not exposed to price shocks. Continue reading...

Murder charge laid after missing woman’s body discovered in Victorian town of Little River, near Melbourne A man is set to face court following his arrest as he tried to board an overseas flight after allegedly murdering a woman. The 67-year-old man was arrested at Melbourne International Airport on Friday afternoon before he stepped onto an overseas-bound plane, Victoria police said. Continue reading...

Previously unreleased report obtained via freedom of information battle says Pezzullo exceeded ‘boundaries of normal public service practice’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The former head of the Department of Home Affairs’ engagement with a Liberal powerbroker was “reckless”, “ill-advised” and beyond the boundaries of normal public service practice, a previously unreleased confidential report found. The independent probe led to the sacking of Michael Pezzullo as secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in November 2023 after it concluded he had breached the government’s code of conduct at least 14 times. This included using his

Man and woman released pending further enquiries after arrests at separate properties in state’s north-east on Saturday morning Two people have been arrested as part of the investigation into how Porepunkah fugitive Dezi Freeman was able to survive on the run for seven months before he was shot dead on Monday. A man and a woman were arrested at separate properties in north-east Victoria on Saturday morning around 7am, before being later released. Continue reading...

Datacentres ‘directly competing’ with possible residential builds near public transport, one council tells NSW inquiry, amid growing concerns * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Datacentre developments are crowding out opportunities for housing and job-rich industries across Sydney, a New South Wales inquiry has heard, with one local council reporting a rise in blackouts linked to the industry’s expansion. Several Sydney councils, all facing an influx of datacentre developments, have raised concerns about the health, environmental and amenity impacts on their local communities in submissions to the state’s datacentre inquiry. Continue reading...

Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation. Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections. Continue reading...

Roberto Mazzarella, head of a notorious Camorra clan, had been on the run for more than a year An Italian mafia boss, who was one of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives, has been arrested on murder charges after more than a year on the run, Italian police said on Saturday. Roberto Mazzarella was the head of the notorious Mazzarella clan of the Camorra – the Naples-based organised crime gang. Continue reading...

As voters head to polls, Washington support and alleged interference from Moscow raise questions about influence * Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win? The official announcement that JD Vance was to visit, days before Hungarians cast their ballots in a hotly contested election, was greeted by Budapest with no less than four exclamation marks and three emojis. “!!Official!!” Viktor Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, wrote on social media as he confirmed the news. The White House said Vance, along with his wife Usha, will land in Hungary on Tuesday, in what is widely seen as an

The rightwing populist has been in power for 16 years but a new generation of voters are preparing to vote for his opponent, polls suggest * Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win? As he rushed to finish off his cigarette before heading to class, Ákos, 20, confessed that he has more at stake than most as Hungarians prepare to head to the polls in the coming days. “If things remain the same, or get even worse, I can’t see a future here,” said the aspiring teacher. “There are many people who want to try living elsewhere,

Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say. Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays. Continue reading...

Riccione’s leftwing mayor, Daniela Angelini, says public purchase is victory for town and ‘act of love and vision’ An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of “fascist nostalgics”. Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy’s Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was “an act of love and vision” and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town. Continue reading...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where plane came down in south-western Iran * ‘I’m regretting everything’: #MilitaryTok reactions to war stray from White House messaging Iran has executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, the judiciary said. The executions on Saturday were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were executed earlier in the week. Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury to issue urgent call for peace, as PM exhorts Britons to ‘choose community over division’ Religious and political leaders in the UK are highlighting the conflict in the Middle East in their Easter messages, calling for “peace, justice and freedom” in the region. The archbishop of Canterbury will deliver her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday as the Church of England’s top bishop. Dame Sarah Mullally will call “with renewed urgency” for peace in the Middle East and pray for “an end to the violence and destruction” in the region. Continue reading...

Military pilots said F-15 crew member would be trying to hide for as long as possible from the Iranian military * Middle East crisis – live updates US search and rescue efforts for the missing second crew member of the downed F-15E fighter jet continued into a second day as Iran came under heavy bombing and Israel extended the war in Lebanon. A pilot had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war, but the second of the two-strong crew has not been accounted for. Continue reading...

As Israel expands its invasion of southern Lebanon, people are having to bury their dead in temporary graves In Lebanon, the dead are usually given one last glimpse of their home town before they are laid to rest. Hoisted high above the heads of the living, their casket is slowly marched through the streets where they grew up. It is the hands of their loved ones that guide them into their final resting place, already dug, and gently sprinkle dirt on their body. Continue reading...

This blog is closed – our live coverage continues in a new blog here Authorities in Abu Dhabi have reported two incidents of debris falling from intercepted aerial threats in the UAE capital, with one sparking a fire at a gas facility, The official Abu Dhabi Media Office said authorities responded to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities. “Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire,” it said in a post on X, adding that no injuries were reported. Continue reading...

Ripple effects of oil and fertiliser shortage felt by farmers in India and Sri Lanka despite governments saying there is enough stock to go round Gurvinder Singh never thought the war in Iran would touch his quiet corner of Punjab. Yet looking out over his smallholding, where he alternates between wheat and rice crops in the state known as India’s breadbasket, the 52-year-old farmer can barely think of anything else. His anxiety over a conflict playing out thousands of miles away is crippling as he fears what will come of this season’s rice crop. Continue reading...

Min Aung Hlaing seized control five years ago and plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos Min Aung Hlaing, the military general who plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos when he took power in the 2021 coup has been appointed president, months after widely condemned sham elections. Min Aung Hlaing, who is wanted by the prosecutor of the international criminal court for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim minority, was voted president by lawmakers on Friday. Myanmar’s parliament is dominated by the pro-military party, which won a landslide in one-sided elections earlier this year. Continue reading...

At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media ban Nepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year. Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...

Balendra Shah, 35, is a symbol of change in country whose government was toppled last year in youth-led uprising Nepal’s rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, who is about to be sworn in as prime minister, has issued his first post-election message in the form of a rap urging unity. Hours before the release he swore an oath as a newly elected lawmaker, and he is due to become the Himalayan republic’s new prime minister on Friday. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio welcomes release of Dennis Coyle, who was detained in January last year for violating unspecified laws Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have released the American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul on Tuesday, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s supreme court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient”. Continue reading...

Total of four, including 17-year-old boy, in police custody after fatal incident in Cudworth area on Friday evening Two further suspects, including a 17-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a fatal collision in Barnsley on Friday afternoon. This comes after two people, a 60-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, were arrested earlier in the day on suspicion of murder after a man died after a collision in the Cudworth area of Barnsley. These two suspects remain in custody. Continue reading...

Charities suggest ‘gendered understanding’ of crime means services often fail to recognise girls and young women as victims An increasing number of girls are being identified as victims of county lines exploitation, figures have shown. Data from Catch22, the charity that provides the national county lines support service, said girls and young women formed 22% of its caseload in 2025, up from 15% the previous year. Continue reading...

Met police say 19-year-old was detained in connection with attack after officers recognised him at arraignment A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the arson attack on Jewish volunteer ambulances in north-west London, the Metropolitan police has said. The force said the 19-year-old man was arrested on Saturday morning at Westminster magistrates court, where three other men were charged over the arson attack. Continue reading...

Influencers and athletes are among those claiming substances can help with injury repair, weight loss and angi-ageing * Medicines watchdog to investigate UK peptide clinics over health claims From influencers to athletes, high-profile figures are hailing peptides as the route to wellness, claiming they help with injury repair, weight loss, anti-ageing and mood. We take a look at what these substances are, and the murky industry surrounding them. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds several clinics making potentially unlawful claims about benefits of unregulated therapies * What are peptides, are they safe and is there evidence to back up the hype? The medicines regulator is investigating whether UK clinics are breaking the law by making claims about the benefits of unregulated, experimental peptide therapies, the Guardian can reveal. Interest in experimental peptides has boomed in recent years. The substances are delivered by injection and are touted by sellers, influencers and even some medics as aiding everything from anti-ageing to recovery from injury. Continue reading...

Alleged drunk driver in custody after 11 people transported by ground and two by air during Lao New Year parade More than 20 people were injured on Saturday after an alleged drunk driver plowed into pedestrians at a Louisiana parade celebrating the Lao New Year, according to KADN-TV (Fox 15). The driver, who has not been publicly identified, is in custody, according to a statement from the Iberia parish sheriff’s office. Some of the injuries are believed to be serious, authorities said. Continue reading...

Crimson, seen alone in Santa Monica mountains for days, gets care in Oakland zoo after mother nowhere to be found It was an unusual scene. A lion cub alone for days in southern California’s sprawling Santa Monica mountains, emitting a noise that sounded like a cross between a purr and a light squeal, perhaps calling out for his mother. Where was his mother? Continue reading...

Astronaut calls fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling’s movie ‘extraordinary’ ahead of Artemis II crew’s lunar fly-around The new space movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling has gotten a rave review from more than halfway to the moon. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said on Saturday that he and his Artemis II crewmates got to watch the film with their families before launching on the lunar fly-around. He said it was “a real treat” to view the movie while getting ready for his own space adventure. Continue reading...

US National Park Service lawyers cite materials that will be installed to make ‘heavily fortified’ facility Donald Trump’s administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400m White House ballroom creates a security risk for the US president as his team asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling. In a motion filed on Friday, US National Park Service (NPS) lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the president and his family, and the president’s staff”. Continue reading...

Springs fire, which had spread quickly by windy conditions, at least 45% contained on Saturday, say fire officials California fire protection crews on Saturday were getting a handle on the wildfire that broke out the previous evening in Riverside county, fanned by high winds that quickly spread the flames to more than 4,100 acres. The Springs fire, about 64 miles (103km) east of Los Angeles, was at least 45% contained on Saturday, a fire department spokesperson said. It was 25% contained late on Friday evening. Continue reading...

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face “all Hell”, as US and Iranian forces scrambled to find a downed American airman. Trump’s latest threat came after a strike near an Iranian nuclear power plant prompted evacuations, and as Tehran announced fresh attacks and the Israeli military said it had detected another missile launch from Yemen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit a commercial ship in Bahrain, as they maintained their tight...

The Senegalese government has banned all but essential foreign trips for government ministers as part of cost-saving measures triggered by the energy crisis linked to the Iran war. Senegal, like many African countries, imports most of the petroleum products it consumes, leaving its economy vulnerable to supply disruptions such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent the price of crude soaring. For millions in the region, soaring fuel prices have worsened the hardships they already...

At least one person died and 60 others were injured in what seemed to be a crush of fans at a popular football team’s stadium in the Peruvian capital on Friday night, authorities reported. Police said officers rescued people trapped as a result of an influx of Alianza Lima fans in the south stands of the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium the night before their team’s scheduled game against their biggest rival, Universitario. Earlier, the Ministry of Health had reported the collapse of a wall inside...

An earthquake that struck Afghanistan overnight killed 12 people, including eight members of the same family, a government official and the Afghan Red Crescent Society said on Saturday. A neighbour who helped in rescue efforts said that the eight who died, on the outskirts of Kabul, were a refugee family recently returned from neighbouring Iran. The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8.42pm (1612 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186km (115 miles) at the epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan province,...

The ⁠International ⁠Atomic Energy Agency ⁠on Saturday said that it has been informed by Iran ‌about a projectile striking close to the premises of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The IAEA said in ⁠an X post that one ‌of the site’s physical protection staff members was ‌killed by a projectile ⁠fragment ⁠and that a building on site ‌was affected by shock waves and fragments. “No increase ‌in ‌radiation levels was ‌reported,” the IAEA said. Rafael Grossi, head of the agency, voiced “deep concern”...

Iran has demanded explanations from two Gulf states equipped with Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones after one was reportedly shot down in the war with the United States and Israel. Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are known to have the reconnaissance and precision strike drones in their arsenals. The drone was shot down over the city of Shiraz on Thursday, according to Esmail Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry. Baqaei posted photos of drone wreckage on social...

Five European Union finance ministers are calling for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies in reaction to rising fuel prices due to the Iran war, according to a letter from ‌the ministers to the EU Commission seen by Reuters on Saturday. The finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria made the joint call in a letter dated Friday, saying such a measure would be a signal that “we stand united and are able to take action”. “It would also send a clear message that those...

The United Arab Emirates has begun retaliating against Iran’s incessant air strikes on its industrial infrastructure by squeezing the economic lifeline it has long extended to the sanctions-bound Islamic Republic. Rather than taking sweeping measures that would signal an escalation beyond its purely defensive posture, the UAE this week quietly banned most Iranians from entering the country or transiting its airports. The UAE is home to more than half a million Iranians, many of whom are...

Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic, the judiciary said. The executions were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were put to death earlier in the week. They also come against the backdrop of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, sparked by...

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday, with smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its...

Armed police guarding London Mayor Sadiq Khan left a bag of guns outside his home which was found by a member of the public, it was reported. Scaffolder Jordan Griffiths told The Sun that his pregnant girlfriend found the bag in south London on Tuesday evening. Inside the bag was an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler & Koch carbine, a Glock pistol, taser and ammunition, the newspaper reported. “My partner saw the bag sitting in the road by the kerbside and became suspicious. She went over to it and...

They are sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they are just like us. The four crew members zipping through space towards the moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they are also still muddling on through life’s mundanities – all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans. Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for the...

Efforts by South Korea and France to secure safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz are likely to be centred on a post-war defensive armada with other countries. Analysts also say both nations are wary of joining the Middle East conflict at this point in time and antagonising Iran. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday revealed he had agreed with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to cooperate on safety in the strategic oil supply strait. Lee made the remarks after a...

The whole world has come to oppose the Iran war, including most Americans. Just as Israel took part in the 1956 Suez crisis, which signalled the last hurrah of European imperialism, it is now jointly prosecuting a pointless but destructive war that is likely to spell the twilight of American hegemony. This time, though, the Jewish state won’t get away so easily. From the Palestinian territories to Iran and Lebanon, it can no longer hide its Zionist expansionism that threatens the entire...

A 12-year-old has been arrested in connection with the death of a classmate who was hit in the head with a metal water bottle during an alleged bullying incident at a Los Angeles school, authorities said Friday. The juvenile, whose age and gender have not been made public, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday, Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Miller said. The arrest stems from the February 25 death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa. The Los Angeles County District...

Pope Leo lifted a wooden cross and held it aloft from his waist at the start of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope has set out to carry the cross to every station. “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week...

One crew member from a US fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued by US forces, multiple news outlets reported on Friday, citing two US officials, while a second crew member remains missing. A separate US aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz, though its pilot was rescued safely, according to the reports. Iran claimed on Friday to have shot down the American jet, releasing photos of apparent wreckage of an F-15E. The United States reportedly launched a search-and-rescue...

The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon. Nasa released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1½ days into the first astronaut moon shot in more than half a century. The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds As of midmorning on Friday, Wiseman and his crew...

A French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, in what appear to be the first such transits since the war in Iran closed the crucial waterway. The CMA CGM Kribi container ship exited the strait on Friday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and two people familiar with the situation. That is the first ship linked to western Europe that is known to have made it through since the war began more than a month ago. Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines...

Russian strikes killed at least eight people across Ukraine on Friday, including in a “massive” missile and drone attack near the capital, local authorities reported. Ukrainian officials claim the Kremlin is changing its tactics to increase civilian suffering, shifting to daytime barrages and preparing to target more key infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky has signalled Kyiv’s openness to a potential Easter truce. The holiday is celebrated on April 12 in Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky...

American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 per cent. The Labor Department reported on Friday that hiring marked a rebound from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. The unemployment rate was down from 4.4 per cent in February. That is partly because the labour force – those working and looking for work – dropped by...

President Donald ⁠Trump on Friday said the ⁠US can open the Strait of Hormuz with a little more time, as pressure mounts for his administration to find a ‌quick resolution to a war against Iran. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL,& MAKE A FORTUNE,” he said in a post on Truth Social. Nearly ⁠five weeks after it started with a joint US-Israeli aerial ‌assault, the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and roil ‌financial markets, raising...

The dust and debris of the US-Israeli war on Iran have yet to settle, but its strategic shock waves have reached East Asia. From Tokyo to Taipei, a reassessment is under way. The conflict, intended to project American resolve, has been a brutal stress test for the US-led order – with catastrophic results for Washington’s credibility. Far from cementing its primacy, America’s misadventure has revealed a superpower that is overstretched, vulnerable and seen as an unreliable partner. This erosion...

Human remains have been found aboard a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz last month, the vessel’s owner said on Friday, after three crew members were reported missing following the attack. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial artery for global oil supplies. The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree was struck in March while travelling through the strait after departing Khalifa port in the...

The Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with the Hezbollah militant group began. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed about 1,000...

Iran on Friday said it shot down an F-35 fighter jet. A statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, said the fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace by a new, advanced defence system. There was no initial confirmation of the incident from the United States, which has been waging war against Iran alongside Israel since February 28. The IRGC said the F-35 was the second to have been shot down. “Due to the complete destruction of the aircraft,...

From controlling the weight of aircraft to sending more flights to Europe via Russian airspace, Chinese airlines have adopted a range of measures in response to the surge in oil prices resulting from the Middle East conflict that threatens to crimp their razor-thin margins. A number of carriers, including China Eastern Airlines, have been enforcing more precise and complex cost management measures in recent weeks to save fuel, according to industry insiders. They include stricter load and weight...

Threatening to destroy Iran’s electricity grid and to reduce the country of 90 million to destitution, US President Donald Trump is shattering precedent by not just accepting but gloating about acts seen as potential war crimes. The consequences for Trump, at least in the near term, are probably none, experts say, as his administration works hard to undermine international institutions tasked with keeping norms. The Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, agreed following World War II,...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Controlled escalation? Trump hails ‘victories’ in Iran but vows more strikes US President Donald Trump declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military...

Cuba’s government announced on Thursday that it was pardoning 2,010 prisoners as a “humanitarian” gesture during Holy Week, after pledging in March to release dozens amid heightened US pressure on Havana. The major announcement comes days after US President Donald Trump eased a de facto oil blockade of Cuba by allowing a Russian tanker to deliver crude to the fuel-starved island. The Trump administration has called for change in communist-run Cuba’s system of government and the US president has...

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US President Donald Trump said on Thursday the tallest bridge in Iran had been destroyed, hours after threatening to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages”. Ghodratollah Seif, the deputy governor of Alborz province, where the B1 bridge is located, said the strike had killed eight people and wounded 95 others, according to state TV and Fars news agency. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse is not able to access the sites of strikes nor to independently verify tolls in...

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge. The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It was not clear if Woods was referring to US President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating...

Four Artemis astronauts were zooming towards the moon on Thursday after a major engine firing, a milestone that commits Nasa to the first crewed lunar fly-by in more than half a century. With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the moon, which they now will loop as part of the 10-day Artemis II mission. “Human beings have left Earth orbit” for the first time...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran. General Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”, said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden...

In a leafy Tehran park on Thursday, Iranians gathered for picnics on the final day of the Persian new year holidays, shrugging off US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”. The country has been at war for more than a month and Trump – who launched the conflict alongside Israel on February 28 – has vowed to strike Iran hard for another “two or three weeks”. Powerful blasts shook the Iranian capital on Thursday. Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild,...

After avoiding much of the churn, firings and senior official turnover that marked his first term, US President Donald Trump on Thursday added to the string of high-profile departures in recent days, as bad news heaped more pressure on the White House. The administration announced that US Attorney General Pam Bondi was leaving to be replaced by her deputy, Todd Blanche, in an acting capacity. “We love Pam,” Trump wrote on social media. “She will be transitioning to a much-needed and important...

Four children were stabbed to death on Thursday at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. The male suspect, in his thirties, gained access by posing as a parent before attacking children aged around two and three with a knife, police said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” police spokeswoman Racheal Kawala said. The suspect...

A UK-led meeting of some 40 countries on the Strait of Hormuz crisis wrapped up on Thursday with a demand for the “immediate and unconditional” reopening of the vital shipping route but no immediate breakthrough. “Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail,” British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement. “To that effect, partners today called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and respect for the...

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. Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi plans to flip the script on Beijing Allies of exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi signalled a potential reset in Tehran’s ties with China and Russia, as the 65-year-old increasingly positioned himself as a central figure in Iran’s political future – a claim that...

Stocks slumped and oil prices soared on Thursday after President Donald Trump vowed the US will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East. The S&P 500 fell 1.1 per cent, with three out of every four stocks in the benchmark index losing ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 545 points, or 1.2 per cent, as of 9.52am Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.6 per cent. Major indexes throughout Europe and Asia also fell. The broad...

The suspected leader of an isolated forest community on the Mediterranean island of Sicily has been arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting child abuse, Italian news agencies ANSA and Adnkronos reported on Thursday. The suspect is a man of German-Indian origin. He is said to have led a community of 15 people, including two children, who lived in a forest near Cefalu on Sicily’s northern coast. The two children, aged 7 and 11, were reportedly not vaccinated, did not attend school and had to...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that a military operation to liberate the Strait of Hormuz is “unrealistic”, while lamenting Donald Trump’s differing daily statements on the Iran war and Nato. “There are those who advocate for the liberation of the Strait of Hormuz by force through a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States,” Macron said during a visit to South Korea. “I say sometimes because it has varied, it is never the option we have chosen...

A month into the Iran war, Washington still says it expects to achieve its objectives in weeks, not months. That may prove optimistic. The terms on offer from the United States and Iran barely overlap, and markets remain unconvinced a durable settlement is close. But one fact is clear: the war’s most consequential effects may be felt not only in the Middle East but across East Asia. It would be a mistake to see this as only an oil story. It is also about hierarchy. In East Asia, the war is...

US President Donald Trump tried to sell the war on Iran to sceptical Americans in a televised address, saying that the conflict was “nearing completion” and that there was no need to worry about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. The US would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks”, Trump said on Wednesday from the White House. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages,” he said. He didn’t give a specific deadline for the end of operations during the...

Harassing bots with “funny violence.” Confiding about a broken heart. Chatting with a block of cheese. Filling a void of loneliness.

As the HBO comedy finished production earlier this year, a photographer captured some of the final days on set and the showrunners looked back on its award-winning run.

Trump girls gone wild — or just gone.

A new, queer reimagining of “Cats” showed me something about the show I never expected.

The astronauts said they had lost track of which day it is on Earth on their transit to the moon.

Floods have killed at least 77 people this week and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, and an earthquake on Friday killed a dozen more.

A long stay in intensive care can bring physical, cognitive and mental health challenges that can take months or longer to resolve.

A Black woman is pushing for changes in the hair industry after claiming in a lawsuit that she and her 7-year-old were turned away from an Ulta Beauty salon in Manhattan because of their hair texture.