Minimalist News

Washington Post Editorial Board Brutally Mocks Mamdani Margaret Thatcher once said, “The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money,” and New York City's new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is learning just how right she was, and New Yorkers are going to pay a hefty price for it. On Tuesday, a mere two months after declaring he would “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” Mamdani announced a $127 billion preliminary budget for fiscal year 2027, a $5 billion increase from the prior year, while simultaneously warning residents of "painful" tax hikes if state

India Boosts Saudi Oil Imports, Slows Russian Buying, Amid US Pressure Via The Cradle Saudi crude shipments to India are set to reach their highest level since 2020 this month, narrowing the gap with Russian supplies as New Delhi faces ongoing US pressure to reduce its purchases of Russian oil, according to data from Kpler cited by Bloomberg on Friday. Flows from Saudi Arabia are projected at between 1 million and 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), Kpler lead research analyst Sumit Ritolia said, describing the volumes as the strongest since November 2019, bringing Saudi exports broadly in line with Russian deliveries. Saudi Aramco Kpler estimates Russian crude shipments

US Intelligence: 15,000+ Were Let Free From ISIS Detention Camp After Collapse Another 'win' for America's disastrous Syria policy, long predicated on overthrowing the Assad government and installing a 'moderate' Sunni regime - though it turns out Jolani's bearded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants are anything but... "U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that 15,000 to 20,000 people, including Islamic State affiliates are now at large in Syria, after an exodus from a camp that held jihadists’ families, U.S. officials familiar with the estimate said," The Wall Street Journal reports Friday. Who could have predicted that chaos, instability, and terrorism would come out of the CIA's

FDA Dropping Requirement For 2 Studies For New Drug Approvals Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve many new drugs based on one trial moving forward, agency leaders have said. FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary in Washington on July 29, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images The FDA has typically required two studies from companies seeking approval for most new drugs, although in recent years it has approved some drugs based on a single well-run trial. “The FDA has demonstrated disease-by-disease flexibility and has granted approvals based on a single premarket study with confirmatory

Amazon Cloud Unit Taken Down Twice By Its Own AI Tools: Report Amazon’s cloud-computing arm suffered at least two recent service interruptions linked to the use of its own artificial intelligence coding assistants, prompting some internal concerns about the company’s rapid deployment of autonomous software agents inside production environments. In mid-December, Amazon engineers allowed the company’s Kiro AI coding tool to implement system changes that ultimately led to a roughly 13-hour disruption affecting one of the systems customers use to analyze the cost of AWS services, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.  The agentic tool - which is capable of taking

More Than 550 Commercial Driving Schools To Close After Checks: Transportation Department Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Department of Transportation announced on Feb. 18 the removal of certifications for more than 550 U.S. commercial driving schools that train truckers and bus drivers. Truckers transport cargo in the Port of Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times The schools were employing unqualified instructors, using fraudulent addresses, and failing to properly train applicants for transporting hazardous materials, investigators found. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration deployed more than 300 investigators across all 50 states to conduct more

Israel Reviews Wartime Hospital Readiness As Iran Retaliation Fears Mount An Israeli television channel reported Thursday that the government's Health Ministry convened an emergency session with hospital directors and major health funds to assess readiness for a possible escalation with Iran. According to i24 News, senior ministry officials attended the meeting and instructed hospital administrators to detail their level of preparedness in the event of a direct confrontation with Tehran. The extra caution also stems back to the June war with Iran, where hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones inflicted significant damage on Israeli cities and bases. AFP/BBC: The Soroka hospital in Beersheba

As Pentagon Races to Deploy AI, Operational Challenges Highlight Risks Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Artificial intelligence (AI) is often framed as a force multiplier that can accelerate decision-making and produce valuable information. Meanwhile, AI deployment exercises have yielded mixed results, highlighting challenges such as systems stalling and unpredictable software outside controlled environments. A U.S. soldier holds a drone in the Pentagon parking lot in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2025. Samuel Corum/Getty Images Some defense insiders believe that AI tools also introduce new safety and escalation risks if not developed, evaluated, and trained correctly. Over the past year, U.S.

Contradictory Reports Of US Evacuating Troops From Exposed Qatar, Bahrain Bases We previously went through some plausible escalation scenarios in the event President Trump orders military strikes on Iran. The problem with a supposedly 'limited' attack is that Tehran's response could be devastating, targeting American military bases across the region. This would then turn into all-out war in the region. Iran has every interest in establishing deterrence quickly, in order to get the US administration and its allies second-guessing the pursuit of full regime change, which would probably require ground forces and not just an aerial bombardment operation. With the countdown ticking toward

Virtually All Countries Support Voter Photo ID – So Why The Filibuster? Authored by John R. Lott Jr. via RealClearPolitics, “The bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country,” Harry Enten, the chief data analyst for CNN, recently reported. Nor is it controversial in virtually any other country in the world. Yet despite massive support among both Democrats (71%) and Republicans (95%), only one Democratic member of the House and one in the Senate are supporting the SAVE Act. Unless seven more of the 47 Senate Democrats step forward, their filibuster will kill the bill. Democrats argue that requiring

Brewing Nor-easter Bomb Cyclone Threatens Mid-Atlantic As Meteorologists Split Over Models We've seen this winter storm story before: low pressure develops off the East Coast. The question now is which model is correct: ECMWF or GFS. > Alright, we're pretty much down to 2 scenarios at this point. ~48 hours till start time. Euro/Euro AI/CMC sticking to scenario 1. GFS/NAM with scenario 2. Either way, an impactful snow event is on the way for someone here in SNE/Mid-Atl. Just a matter of who... pic.twitter.com/AospuqpWoE > > — Weather Sphere (@WeatherSphere22) February 20, 2026 "We are barely two days away from what the American GFS

From Germany To Brazil: The "Social Media Ban"-Craze Continues Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org, The list of countries that want to “ban social media for children” (read: identity-gate internet access) just continues to grow and grow. There’s Germany… > NEW - Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), a former BlackRock chairman, wants to end the anonymity on the Internet: "I want to see real names." pic.twitter.com/sUjG7XIdrd > > — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) February 18, 2026 At least Merz is being somewhat honest about the intention – ending anonymity. Meanwhile, Greece is doing it to “protect democracy”… > NOW - Greece's PM says banning social media for minors and adolescents "goes hand

Steven Spielberg Flees California Amid Raging Wealth Tax Battle Another day, another rich liberal leaving a state over policies they promoted.  In today's episode of modern hypocrisy, Steven Spielberg, director of blockbuster hits like Jaws, E.T., Poltergeist and Saving Private Ryan, has moved to Manhattan, according to the Los Angeles Times. A spokesperson for one of Hollywood’s most reliable Democrat Party donors was quick to insist the relocation has nothing to do with California’s highly controversial wealth tax proposal. “Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children

"Hubris Generally Precedes Clusterf**k": Does It Smell Like Victory? Authored by James Howard Kunstler, The message seems to be something like the USA isn’t messing around with all those strike forces in the waters around Iran. The Islamic Republic suddenly looks like Rock-and-Hard-Place-Land. Everybody and his uncle are trying to figure out the calculus in play, World War Three or a happy ending? You’re seeing the most significant US military build-up over there in memory. Smells a little bit like first Gulf War, 1991 — minus all those allies we roped in then. Mr. Trump (via Marco Rubio) has read Euroland out on this one. We are in

Goldman Sachs The Latest Firm To Ditch DEI Hiring Criteria Goldman Sachs is the latest firm to scrap the DEI scam from its board policies. In fact, the bank is preparing to strip race, gender identity, sexual orientation and other demographic factors from the guidelines used to evaluate potential directors, according to people familiar with the plans who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Which begs the question to begin with: why were we ever picking directors based on race and gender identity? Isn't that...racist? The Journal wrote that Goldman's governance committee currently considers experience, background and perspective, along with a diversity category that includes

Florida Lawmakers Approve Renaming Palm Beach Airport After Trump Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times, Florida lawmakers on Thursday completed the approval of a bill to rename Palm Beach International Airport in honor of President Donald Trump. The measure, now awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature, comes at the same time as the Trump family’s recent federal trademark filings for airport names incorporating the president’s identity. The Trump Organization says it will see no financial gain from the Palm Beach site. The Florida Senate passed SB 706 in a 25–11 vote. The legislation is sponsored by state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, a Republican from Melbourne.

SpaceX IPO Hype Ignites Blast Off For This Korean Broker Stock The SpaceX IPO, potentially launching as early as mid-June, is set to accelerate the "space investment" theme we previously outlined, with Elon Musk's rocket company rumored to target about $50 billion in proceeds at a $1.5 trillion valuation. Early bullish sentiment is already appearing in one public-market proxy: Seoul-based Mirae Asset Securities Co., which has about $400 million of exposure to SpaceX and xAI, and has surged to the top spot on MSCI's broadest global stock index performance so far this year. Ha SeokKeun, CEO at Eugene Asset Management Co., was quoted

Steve Cohen Tops Hedge Fund Rich List With $3.4 Billion Haul Steve Cohen spent last fall doing something few billionaire owners enjoy: apologizing. As the New York Mets staggered through a bruising 2025 campaign, he took to social media to tell fans he was sorry for the disappointment at Citi Field. Yet even as the baseball season fizzled, Cohen was clinching a very different kind of pennant, according to Bloomberg. The founder of Point72 Asset Management finished the year as the highest-paid hedge fund manager on Bloomberg’s annual ranking, pocketing an estimated $3.4 billion. That works out to more than $9 million

Ford Carrier Group Enters Mediterranean To Join Biggest US Build-Up Since 2003 Iraq War Open source monitors as well as US and Middle East media have confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, has entered the Mediterranean Sea, having sailed passed the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday. This is the second carrier strike group expected to soon operate directly in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, amid the massive military build-up and pressure campaign against Iran. It was sent from the Caribbean earlier this month, extending its planned deployment. USS Ford entering the Mediterranean. Via @dparody The USS Mahan Arleigh Burke-class destroyer,

Judge Temporarily Blocks Democrat-Backed Referendum To Redraw Virginia's Congressional Map Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, A county judge in Virginia issued an emergency restraining order on Feb. 19, pausing a referendum backed by Democrats that aims to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley issued the order following a Feb. 18 motion by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) that sought to challenge House Bill 1384. HB1384 schedules a referendum for April 21 on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to redraw the state’s congressional districts. Virginia’s redistricting plan was projected to give Democrats four

Subspecies driven to extinction by hungry whalers returns after ‘back breeding’ programme using partial descendants Giant tortoises, the life-giving engineers of remote small island ecosystems, are plodding over the Galápagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years. The Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger), a subspecies of the giant tortoise once found across the Galápagos, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by whalers who removed thousands from the volcanic island to provide a living larder during their hunting voyages. Continue reading...

Long-serving socialist former leader Evo Morales has reappeared in his political stronghold after almost seven weeks of unexplained absence Bolivia’s long-serving socialist former leader, Evo Morales, reappeared on Thursday in his political stronghold of the tropics after almost seven weeks of unexplained absence, endorsing candidates for upcoming regional elections and quieting rumours he had fled the country in the wake of the US seizure of his ally, Venezuela’s ex-president Nicolás Maduro. The weeks of hand-wringing over Morales’ fate showed how little the Andean country knows about what’s happening in the remote Chapare region, where the former president has spent the past year

José María Balcázar, who argued for marriage at 14 and above, replaces José Jerí who was voted out after a scandal Peru’s congress has elected José María Balcázar, an octogenarian leftist lawmaker who has defended child marriage, as the country’s interim president ahead of general elections in April. Balcázar is Peru’s ninth president since 2016. The surprise election, in which Balcázar beat the favourite, María del Carmen Alva, a conservative, came after lawmakers voted to remove José Jerí as president on Tuesday after just four months in office, due to a scandal over secretive meetings with Chinese businessmen. Continue reading...

Kimberly Prost and Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza vow US reprisals will not affect work of international criminal court When the Canadian Kimberly Prost learned Donald Trump’s administration had imposed sanctions on her, it came as a shock. For years, she has sat as a judge at the international criminal court, weighing accusations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity; now she is on the same list as terrorists and those involved in organised crime. “It really was a moment of a bit of disbelief,” she said. Continue reading...

Three boats targeted in eastern Pacific and Caribbean as Trump continues pursuit of alleged ‘narco-terrorists’ US military officials have said American forces launched assaults on three alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing 11 in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration’s months-long campaign against alleged traffickers. The military action on Monday brought the number of fatalities caused by US strikes to 145 since September, when Donald Trump called on American armed forces to attack people deemed “narco-terrorists” on small vessels. There have been 42 known strikes in notorious drug-trafficking routes such as the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the

Dozens of the animals in Chiang Mai region first began to show signs of illness earlier this month A highly contagious virus is believed to have caused the deaths of 72 captive tigers in northern Thailand this month, with officials racing to contain the outbreak. Teams are urgently disinfecting enclosures and preparing to vaccinate surviving animals. Continue reading...

Police say UK entrepreneur Quentin Griffiths fell from 17th floor of an 18-floor condominium on 9 February Quentin Griffiths, the co-founder of the online fashion retailer Asos, has died after falling from an apartment building in the Thai seaside resort city of Pattaya. Police told Reuters that the 58-year-old had fallen from the 17th floor of an 18-storey condominium on 9 February. Continue reading...

Mayor says Japanese city will respect donor’s specification that £2.7m gift must be used to repair dilapidated system Osaka has received a hefty gift of gold bars worth 560m yen (£2.7m) from an anonymous donor and a request for its specific use: to fix the Japanese city’s dilapidated water pipes. The gold bars, weighing a total of 21kg (46lb), were given to the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau in November by the donor who wants to help improve ageing water pipes, the mayor, Hideyuki Yokoyama, told reporters on Thursday. Continue reading...

Arctesthes avatar moth, which won nearly half of the votes, was discovered in 2012 and is critically endangered A tiny critically endangered moth, named after the Avatar films because of the proposed mining activity threatening its primary habitat, has been crowned New Zealand’s bug of the year. The Avatar moth won by a wide margin, earning 5,192 of the more than 11,000 total votes cast. It won 2,269 more votes than the runner-up, the mahoenui giant wētā, one of the world’s largest insects. Other contenders included the wonderfully spiky hellraiser mite, the country’s heaviest spider – the black tunnelweb – and a

Officers devise unusual plan to arrest man suspected of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts Thai police donned a lion costume during this week’s lunar new year festivities to arrest a man accused of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts. Dressed as a red-and-yellow lion, officers made the arrest on Wednesday evening after responding to a report this month of a home burglary in the suburbs of Bangkok. Continue reading...

A 32-year-old has been charged with serious vilification or hate crime and other offences but police say it is not being considered a terrorist incident * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Police have charged a man after a car was used to ram the gates of a synagogue in Brisbane. Officers say the man was driving a Toyota Hilux utility when he knocked down the gates of the property in Margaret Street in Brisbane’s CBD shortly after 7pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Aid workers say the camp where 34 women and children are being held are ‘dire’ and present more risk than if they were repatriated * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Conditions in the north-eastern Syrian camp where 34 Australians have been forcibly returned are deteriorating dramatically, with reports of near-nightly raids, and increasingly violent beatings, amid worsening uncertainty over their futures. The 11 women and 23 Australian children forced back to Roj camp on Monday returned to find their tents – formerly huddled collectively in a row known as Australia Street – demolished and their possessions

Jake Danby’s sentence for hitting two Aboriginal men with his car, killing one, was extended from five months to two years in home detention * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The family of an Aboriginal man fatally run down before the driver bragged about his death are angry and heartbroken after their brother’s killer has again avoided jail on appeal. In June 2024, Jake Danby hit two Aboriginal men with his car on a Darwin street, killing one and injuring the other. Continue reading...

Software companies are facing major disruption from AI and investors are pulling back, wiping off billions in value – but does it spell the end for software-as-a-service? * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast After years of questioning whether artificial intelligence was creating a speculative market bubble, investors are now grappling with a new question: what if its hype is real? The “SaaS-pocalypse”, a trending term to describe the recent and dramatic sell-off in global software-as-a-service (SaaS) shares, is based on the idea that AI becomes so advanced that software becomes redundant. Continue reading...

Document also shows US miner had been unlawfully clearing land for 15 years despite warnings from department * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government’s decision to allow the US mining giant Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of Western Australian jarrah forest despite past illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows. The document also reveals Alcoa was unlawfully clearing land for its bauxite mining practices in the area south of Perth for 15 years, despite warnings

Government ‘expects privileged trading position’ to go on as EU ‘seeks clarity’ over Trump administration’s next steps Britain and the EU said they were assessing the implications of the US supreme court ruling against Donald Trump’s global tariffs, while business groups reacted to the court’s announcement with caution. A spokesperson for Downing Street said: “The UK government is working with the US to understand how the overturning of Donald Trump’s tariffs by the supreme court will affect the UK but expects our privileged trading position with the US to continue.” Continue reading...

Amateur climber’s conviction over girlfriend’s death could put people off activity, say experts * Climber convicted of manslaughter after leaving girlfriend on Austria’s highest peak to seek help The decision of an Austrian court to convict an amateur climber of manslaughter after he had left his girlfriend behind to die on an Alpine peak in winter is certain to be examined closely throughout Europe. In his decision in Innsbruck, the judge, Norbert Hofer – a climber, and an expert in Austrian law relating to the mountains – ruled that the “galaxies-wide” disparity in experience and skills between Thomas P and his late

Completion of glass cross brings Antoni Gaudí’s church to maximum final height of 172.5m, 144 years after work began The final piece of the central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has been laid in place, bringing the church to its maximum final height 144 years after work began. After several days when it has been too windy to work, the upper section of the 17 metre-high four-sided steel and glass cross was winched into position at 11am on Friday, completing the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. At 172.5 metres, the Sagrada Familia, to which the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí devoted the later

Demonstrators were outside hotel in Washington demanding the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan Bodyguards traveling with the Azerbaijani president, who was visiting Washington for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, punched, kicked and chased protesters outside a Washington hotel on Thursday, video footage shows. Demonstrators calling for the release of political prisoners were driven from the street near the motorcade of Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani leader. Continue reading...

Thomas P given five-month suspended prison sentence and €9,400 fine over death of Kerstin G by gross negligence * Europe live – latest updates An amateur mountaineer has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of his girlfriend, whom he left behind on Austria’s highest peak after they got into difficulty on their climb. Thomas P, 37, was handed a five-month suspended sentence and fined €9,400 (£8,200) for causing the death of Kerstin G in January 2025 by gross negligence, an offence that carries a maximum prison term of three years. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * Furious Trump signs global 10% duty after supreme court issues tariff blow * Trump news at a glance: president lobs insults at US supreme court for striking down his global tariffs * What will happen to Trump’s tariffs after supreme court verdict? According to reporters at the supreme court, one box of opinions has been brought out. Typically, this means we can expect two decisions from the court. Continue reading...

Hezbollah leader among dead as Israel says it hit militant command centres At least 10 people have been killed and 24 wounded – including three children – in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley, the Lebanese health ministry has said. Israel said it had hit “command centres” of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the Bekaa valley. Two security sources told Reuters that senior Hezbollah leader Hussein Yaghi was killed in the attacks. Continue reading...

Rightwing Trump ally tells Tucker Carlson Israel has biblical right to land from ‘wadi of Egypt to the great river’ The US’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has contended to the podcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East – or at least the lion’s share of it. “It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said to Carlson during an interview posted on Friday. The Trump administration appointee and former Arkansas governor discussed with Carlson interpretations of Old Testament scripture within the US Christian nationalist movement. Continue reading...

Nasrallah Abu Siyam shot dead in occupied West Bank as UN human rights office accuses Israel of war crimes Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian American man during an attack on a village, the Palestinian health ministry and a witness have said. Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhmas, said a group of settlers came to the village on Wednesday afternoon where they attacked a farmer, prompting clashes after residents intervened. Continue reading...

New head will face decisions crucial to movement’s future, such as how far to cooperate with Trump’s Gaza plan Hamas has reportedly begun holding leadership elections among its members at a time when the militant Palestinian movement faces imminent decisions which will be critical to its own continued existence and the potential for peace in Gaza. According to the BBC and press reports in the Gulf, Hamas members in Gaza have already voted. Those in the West Bank, in Israeli prisons and the diaspora are also expected to cast ballots for delegates to the movement’s 50-member general Shura council, which ultimately chooses

Google, Anthropic and OpenAI bosses to mingle with global south leaders wrestling for control over technology Silicon Valley tech billionaires will land in Delhi this week for an AI summit hosted by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, where leaders of the global south will wrestle for control over the fast-developing technology. During the week-long AI Impact Summit, attended by thousands of tech executives, government officials and AI safety experts, tech companies valued at trillions of dollars will rub along with leaders of countries such as Kenya and Indonesia, where average wages dip well below $1,000 a month. Continue reading...

Many voice hope that moment will mark move away from repression and unrest and a chance to revive economy Bangladesh’s new prime minister has been sworn in, sealing a dramatic comeback for the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) and formally closing the turbulent chapter that toppled Sheikh Hasina in 2024. The swearing-in of Tarique Rahman restored an elected government after 18 months of caretaker rule led by the Nobel peace prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Continue reading...

Mohan Karki – one of many people ICE has deported to countries with which they have little connection – leaves behind his wife and seven-month-old baby he has yet to hold Tika Basnet sat facing the glow of her iPhone, a red tika pressed into the center of her forehead. Seven-month-old Briana slept on her lap, her breathing soft and uneven. On the other side of the screen was Mohan Karki, Basnet’s husband, who had yet to hold his daughter. For Karki, nearly 9,000 miles (14,500km) away, it was already morning. He was in hiding in south Asia, his exact location withheld

Voting was largely peaceful in an election seen as a test of Bangladesh’s democracy after years of political turmoil The Bangladesh Nationalist party, led by Tarique Rahman, has won a sweeping victory in the country’s first election since a gen Z uprising toppled the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina. Results from the election commission confirmed the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, returning the party to power after 20 years, while the rival alliance, led by the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, won 77 seats. Continue reading...

Destined to a perilous life with no right to an education or to vote, state recognition ‘gives them hope’, campaigners say Through the decades that the Daulatdia brothel in Bangladesh has existed, children born there have been invisible, unable to be registered because their mothers were sex workers and their fathers unknown. Now, for the first time, all 400 of them in the brothel village have their own birth certificates. That milestone was reached after a push by campaigners who have spent decades working with Bangladesh’s undocumented children born in brothels or on the street. It means they can finally access the

Recruitment of children for study delayed after MHRA warns that participants should be no younger than 14 A clinical trial into puberty blockers for children has been paused after the medicines regulator warned it should have a minimum age limit of 14 because of the “unquantified risk” of “long-term biological harms”. Discussions between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the trial sponsor, King’s College London, will begin next week to discuss the wellbeing concerns, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Officers being asked to ‘consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard’ may be relevant to review of Epstein files Scotland Yard has announced it is expanding its inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by approaching all his former protection officers and reviewing records of flights at London’s airports to see if they were used for human trafficking. The disclosure by the Metropolitan police is separate to the inquiry that led to the former prince’s arrest on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but underlines the complex nature of the multiple investigations now focused on King Charles’s brother. Continue reading...

Exclusive: David Blunkett and Estelle Morris among those calling plans a ‘once in a generation chance’ to fix system Five former education secretaries have made a joint appeal to Labour MPs to back the overhaul of special education provision in English schools, calling it “a once in a generation chance” to fix a failing system. The open letter is signed by David Blunkett, Estelle Morris, Charles Clarke, Ruth Kelly and Alan Johnson, who between them held the post for a decade from 1997. Continue reading...

Cherish Bean, 15, and Ethan Slater, 17, were discovered at a rental property in Little Eden Holiday Lodge Park on Wednesday A teenage couple who died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at an East Yorkshire holiday park have been named by police. Cherish Bean, 15, and Ethan Slater, 17, were discovered at a rental property at Little Eden holiday park, near Bridlington, on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Move would follow any police investigation after former prince questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office The government will consider passing legislation to strip Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his right to inherit the throne once any police investigation has concluded, it is understood. Several politicians have called for the former prince to be removed from the line of succession after he was arrested and questioned by detectives on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Continue reading...

After meeting with unspecified tech leaders, senator calls for urgent policy action as companies race to build ever more powerful systems Bernie Sanders has warned that Congress and the American public have “not a clue” about the scale and speed of the coming AI revolution, pressing for urgent policy action to “slow this thing down” as tech companies race to build ever-more powerful systems. Speaking at Stanford University on Friday alongside congressman Ro Khanna after a series of meetings with industry leaders in California, Sanders was blunt about what he called the “most dangerous moment in the modern history of this country”. Continue

Move brings total number of people killed in US strikes on suspected boats since September to at least 148 The US military launched a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Friday, killing three men in its second strike this week. “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” US Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Twitter/X. Continue reading...

Shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, in Texas was not publicly disclosed by Department of Homeland Security Newly released records show a US citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security. The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of a nationwide immigration crackdown in Donald Trump’s second term. On Friday, DHS said the shooting on South Padre Island last March occurred after the

President calls six justices a ‘disgrace to the nation’ while praising three justices who dissented * US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump on Friday railed against the supreme court justices who blocked his use of tariffs, calling them a “disgrace to the nation”, and later signing documents imposing a 10% tariff on all countries. Trump said he would immediately sign an order increasing tariffs globally by 10% under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and will begin investigations of unfair trade practices allowing further tariffs. He asserted that he had the authority to impose additional tariffs under existing

Philanthropist and mother of Elisabeth, James and Lachlan Murdoch died at home in Palm Beach, Florida The author and philanthropist Anna Murdoch-Mann, the ex-wife of the Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. She was 81. Murdoch-Mann’s death was reported Friday by the New York Post, one of her ex-husband’s media properties. Continue reading...

Britain’s government will consider new legislation to remove the former prince Andrew from the line of royal succession once the police investigation into his ties with Epstein is over, a UK official has said. Any changes to the line of succession – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in line to the throne – would require consultation and agreement with other countries where King Charles ‌is head of state, the official, who asked not to be identified, said on Friday. The former prince was...

Nasa aims to send astronauts to the moon in March after completing the latest rocket fuelling test. Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Friday that launch teams made “major progress” between the first countdown rehearsal, which was disrupted by hydrogen leaks earlier this month, and the second test, which was completed without significant seepage on Thursday night. The test was “a big step towards America’s return to the lunar environment”, Isaacman said on social media. Nasa could launch four...

US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran after ordering a major naval build-up in the Middle East aimed at heaping pressure on Tehran to cut a deal to curb its nuclear programme. The latest threat came after Iran’s foreign minister said a draft proposal for an agreement with Washington would be ready in a matter of days following negotiations between the two sides in Geneva earlier this week. Trump had suggested on Thursday that “bad things” would happen if...

Barcelona’s towering Sagrada Familia basilica reached its maximum height on Friday, though the magnum opus of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi remains years away from completion. A crane placed the upper arm of a cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ, the church’s soaring central piece, which now stands 172.5 metres (566 feet) above the city. A swarm of tourists craned their necks to see the instalment of the 7-metre-high white cross’s upper arm, visible amid the scaffolding and workers who put...

In a consequential decision with billions of dollars on the line, the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower-court ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s tariffs, coming just as the White House confirmed his visit to Beijing from March 31 to April 2. The South China Morning Post had exclusively reported the trip dates last week. By invalidating tariffs imposed under emergency presidential powers, the decision removes a powerful tool the White House had used to pressure Beijing,...

Quentin Griffiths, who co-founded British fast-fashion retailer Asos, has died after a fall from a balcony in Thailand, Thai police said on Friday. Police said that Griffiths, 58, had fallen from the 17th floor of a flat block in the seaside resort city of Pattaya on February 9. The police went to the scene and found the body of a British national, whom they identified as Quentin John Griffiths, on the ground directly below the balcony, they said. Police said initial investigations suggested...

China has defended the World Trade Organization’s non-discrimination principle after the United States and the European Union recently proposed reforms that could weaken it – though analysts say the rule would likely remain despite deepening divisions within the global trading system. Beijing called for “most-favoured nation treatment” to remain the “bedrock” of the WTO, in a new position paper on reforming the international body. The rule mandates that any trade advantage granted to one country...

Turkey has arrested six European activists who came to the country to examine prison conditions of political detainees, their lawyer said on Friday. They were detained in Istanbul on Thursday after meeting a legal collective called the Office of People’s Rights (HHB), said Naim Eminoglu, head of the Istanbul section of the Progressive Lawyers Association (CHD), who is defending them. The six were from Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and Russia, he said. Known for defending individuals seen as...

If 2026 were a chess match, critical minerals would be the opening gambit, and both China and the United States are going all out. On January 28, China’s Zijin Mining announced a US$4 billion takeover of Allied Gold’s three African mines. On February 3, Swiss mining giant Glencore entered talks to sell a 40 per cent stake in its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) copper and cobalt operations to the US-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium. Between the two announcements, US Secretary of State...

Kyiv said on Friday that 10 people were arrested in Ukraine and Moldova on suspicion of planning to assassinate senior Ukrainian political figures on Moscow’s orders, with payouts of up to US$100,000. Kyiv has previously accused Russia, which invaded Ukraine four years ago, of plotting to kill several senior officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service. “As part of the work of a joint investigative team of Ukrainian and Moldovan law enforcement...

An airport in Florida will soon be renamed after US President Donald Trump, after a bill proposing the change was approved by the state’s legislature on Thursday. Trump, a real estate mogul who has plastered his name on buildings around the world, has sought to leave his mark on the country in an unprecedented image and building campaign. Florida’s Republican-led legislature approved a bill to rename the Palm Beach International Airport as the President Donald J. Trump International Airport,...

Iran partially and temporarily closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz during a military drill on Tuesday, thrusting the vital shipping route under the global spotlight once again. The hours-long suspension was the first time Tehran had restricted traffic through the strait since US President Donald Trump’s warning last month that Washington could take military action over Iran’s nuclear programme, with tensions still high between the two sides despite recent bilateral talks in Geneva. Here, we...

I would like to explore some rather interesting data buried deep in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Economic and Social Trends 2026 report: an estimated 15.3 per cent of jobs worldwide depended on foreign demand in 2024. In other words, they depend on international trade. The ILO report, based on data from 80 economies that account for 85 per cent of global employment, says this amounts to 465 million jobs. Of these, 278 million are in Asia and the Pacific and 96 million are in...

More than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, according to a Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers this week, five times more than authorities had previously estimated. The Russian embassy in Nairobi denied on Thursday that Moscow was involved in illegally recruiting Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, though it said ‌foreign citizens could voluntarily join its armed forces. Reading the report of Kenya’s National Intelligence Service to...

Until Thursday morning, it had been nearly four centuries since the arrest of a senior British royal. On his 66th birthday, the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite son was detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office. By evening, the former prince was released from police custody. But the ongoing investigation will unpick years of lurid allegations about Andrew’s ties to the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein that have heaped embarrassment on his brother, King Charles. The arrest of...

US President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza “over” at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday, even as regional analysts warned that Israeli military operations could resume within weeks. At the gathering in Washington, attended by senior officials from more than 20 countries, promises of reconstruction and a “bright future” for Gaza were coupled with blunt US warnings that the alternative to disarmament would be a return to war. Outside the meeting, Israeli officials...

Venezuela’s National Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. But the law excludes those who have been prosecuted or convicted of promoting military action against the country - which could include opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been accused by the ruling party of calling for international intervention like the one that ousted former...

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. Why the growing network of American MQ-9 drones is a challenge for China America’s increasing use of MQ-9 drones near China poses a challenge to Beijing and makes it more urgent for the People’s Liberation Army to improve...

Actor Eric Dane, who played the handsome ⁠Dr Mark Sloan ⁠on the hit television ⁠series Grey’s Anatomy, died on Thursday aged 53, his family said, less than a year after revealing that he suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. For 15 years, Dane played a plastic surgeon nicknamed “McSteamy” by ‌female characters in the show. He also starred in the series Euphoria, and said after the diagnosis he would still return to the set for its third season. “Eric Dane passed on Thursday...

Nasa on Thursday blamed what it called engineering vulnerabilities in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft along with internal agency mistakes in a sharply critical report assessing a botched mission that left two astronauts stranded in space. The US space agency labelled the 2024 test flight of the Starliner capsule a “Type A” mishap - the same classification of the deadly Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters - a category that reflects the “potential for a significant mishap,” it said. The...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was directing the Pentagon and other government agencies to identify and release files related to extraterrestrials and UFOs because of “tremendous interest”. Trump made the announcement in a social media post hours after he accused former president Barack Obama of disclosing “classified information” when Obama recently suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I don’t know if they’re...

The world is a significant step closer to a universal vaccine for cold, flu, Covid and allergies, scientists believe. Experts at Stanford Medicine ⁠in the US have developed a universal ⁠vaccine that could be given as a nasal spray and ⁠could protect against a wide range of respiratory viruses, bacteria and allergy triggers. Although the study, published in the journal Science, was in mice, they said the vaccine offered broad protection in the lungs for several months. Vaccinated mice were...

An Austrian court late on Thursday found a 37-year-old amateur mountaineer guilty of manslaughter over his girlfriend’s death of cold near Austria’s highest summit after he left her to fetch help when she could not go on. The case ‌is unusual because while climbing accidents are common, prosecutions over them were rare, even in situations like this one where a series of mistakes were made. The court in the western city of Innsbruck handed the Austrian man a five-month suspended prison sentence...

Britain’s typically pro-royal public welcomed the arrest of the former prince Andrew, whose friendship with convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has turned him into an outcast. Some on Thursday appeared delighted that police were holding King Charles’ brother, arguing it sent the right message that the royal family was not above the law. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, called the arrest “very sad”. “I think it’s a shame. I think it’s very sad. I think it’s so bad for the royal family....

The global order has outgrown itself. The 2026 Munich Security Report describes this moment as a period of “wrecking-ball politics”, in which the post-war order constructed in 1945 is “under destruction”. However, that order was designed for a world shaped by bipolar rivalry and later sustained by American predominance. Today’s global system looks very different: economically diffuse, environmentally constrained and politically fragmented but deeply interconnected by both trade and...

A man who fatally beat four sleeping men on the streets of New York’s Chinatown was convicted of first-degree murder on Thursday, with a jury rejecting his insanity defence in the 2019 rampage. Randy Santos’ lawyers had conceded that he pummelled the defenceless victims – Chuen Kok, Anthony Manson, Florencio Moran and Nazario Vasquez Villegas – with a metal bar and meant to kill them. But Santos’ lawyers contended that he was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible. They said he was...

The US military is stationing a vast array of forces in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refuelling tankers, giving US President Donald Trump the option for a major attack against Iran as he pressures the country to strike a deal over its nuclear programme. The deployment is unlike anything the US has done since 2003, when it amassed forces ahead of the invasion of Iraq. It dwarfs the military build-up that Trump ordered off the coast of Venezuela in the weeks...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday promised US$10 billion and Muslim-majority nations offered funding and troops for Gaza as he inaugurated his “Board of Peace”, a new institution whose ultimate mission has drawn questions. Trump brought together allies from around the world - many authoritarians, with few Western democrats who traditionally ally with the United States - to hail his peacemaking just as he sends US military might near Iran and threatens war. Presiding with a gavel over the...

The youngest son of former Zimbabwean ruler Robert Mugabe was in police custody after a gardener was shot at his South Africa home on Thursday, media reported. Police said they were investigating a case of attempted murder after the shooting in a wealthy suburb north of Johannesburg and had taken two men in for questioning. A police spokeswoman declined to identify the men but several South African media outlets reported that one of them was Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe. Photographs on the IOL...

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Giorgia Meloni to stop “commenting on what is happening in other people’s countries”, after the Italian prime minister expressed shock at the fatal beating of a far-right activist in France. Quentin Deranque, 23, died from head injuries after being attacked by at least six people last week on the sidelines of a far-right protest at a university in the city of Lyon. Most of the 11 suspects detained are from far-left movements, according to a...

I travelled to Zurich, Switzerland, last month to attend the Asia Leaders Series, a forum designed to foster candid exchange between Europe and Asia, offering policymakers, economists and business leaders a trusted setting to engage seriously with global challenges. The event took place on the eve of the World Economic Forum meeting. I was asked to moderate a session on a topic that was hardly novel: US-China rivalry. I approached the event with modest expectations. Strategic competition between...

The former prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment. It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years. King Charles, whose late mother lived by...

Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment and sources in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s...

A British couple detained in Iran since January last year have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, their family announced on Thursday, prompting condemnation from the UK government. Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their fifties, were arrested while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, according to relatives, and have consistently denied Tehran’s spying claims. Their family say the sentences follow a court appearance last October which lasted...

Peruvian lawmakers picked Jose Maria Balcazar as the country’s new interim president on Wednesday, making him the country’s eighth leader in a decade after Jose Jeri was impeached on corruption allegations. The left-wing lawmaker was elected head of Peru’s Congress after a vote broadcast live on TV, meaning the 83-year-old lawyer and former judge will become Peru’s eighth head of state since 2016. The vote brought to an end a power vacuum of more than 24 hours, unprecedented in the country’s...

Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts ⁠say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel ⁠in 2024 amid tensions with the United States. Images also show that Iran has buried tunnel ⁠entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the US during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict. They...

The top commander overseeing US forces in Latin America, General Francis Donovan, and senior Pentagon official Joseph Humire made a surprise visit to Venezuela on Wednesday for security talks, US officials said. The trip is the first by a US military delegation since US ‌forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid last month and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges. The visit was first reported by Reuters. Venezuela’s government said the US military...

A red, white and blue colour scheme championed by US President Donald Trump will become the new look for Air Force One, the US military said on Thursday. The Air Force said a “red, white, gold and dark blue paint scheme” will be used for the updated jet that is slated to serve as Air Force One as well as other, smaller jets that routinely fly other top government officials. The military released a rendering of the new look that matches an aeroplane model that has been seen in the Oval Office for...

Retail tycoon Les Wexner told US lawmakers on Wednesday that he was “conned” by Jeffrey Epstein and denied any knowledge of his crimes, as Democrats pressed him over his decades-long relationship with the notorious sex offender. The 88-year-old founder of L Brands – the former parent of Victoria’s Secret – gave closed-door testimony from his home in New Albany, Ohio, after being subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Epstein and his associates. “I was...

The Trump administration is withdrawing forces from Syria as part of a strategic shift now that the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa is taking control of the fight against terror groups, according to a senior US official. A significant US troop presence is no longer required in Syria, according to the official who detailed the decision on condition of anonymity, but the Trump administration is ready to respond to Islamic State threats in the region. Some US personnel are leaving as part...

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday he regretted Meta’s slow progress in identifying underage users on Instagram, as he faced stinging criticism at a landmark social media trial over accusations that his company deliberately hooked children. Asked to comment on complaints from inside the company that not enough was being done to verify whether children under 13 were using the platform, the 41-year-old head of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, said improvements had been made. But “I...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sharply criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the UK’s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, warning the deal could create strategic vulnerabilities amid concerns about China’s growing ties with Mauritius. The deal, finalised in 2025 between Britain and Mauritius, would see Britain transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius while securing a 99-year lease to maintain full operational control of...

Brazil has imposed anti-dumping duties on a broad range of Chinese steel products and hypodermic needles following two investigations that found the imports were being sold at unfairly low prices, harming domestic producers. Approved by the government’s foreign trade committee and signed by Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin in his capacity as trade chief, the measures apply for up to five years and target cold-rolled steel, coated flat steel and medical needles shipped from China. Cold-rolled steel...

Pope Leo lamented ⁠a world “in flames” ⁠due to wars and ⁠the destruction of the environment during an Ash Wednesday Mass, opening the season of Lent for the world’s Christians. Before sprinkling ashes on the heads of participants, a sign of mortality, ‌the pope said the ashes could represent “the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war”. He also told participants the ashes could signify “the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, [and] the ashes of...

US factory production increased by the most in nearly a year in January, offering hope for a manufacturing sector that has been squeezed by import tariffs and high interest rates. Manufacturing output rose 0.6 per cent last month, the largest gain since February 2025, after being unchanged in December, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. Economists had earlier forecast production for the sector, which accounts for 10.1 per cent of the economy, would rise 0.4 per cent. Output in December was...

Former officials said the documents were not examples of shoddy work and simply reflected the priorities of past administrations.

At least 60 attack aircraft are parked at the base, which has become a key hub for U.S. military planning for possible strikes on Iran.

While the delay may prove to be procedural, Hungary signaled that it could cause problems as the European Union works to send money to Ukraine.

A 23-year-old American was shot last March in South Padre Island. ICE’s involvement in the shooting was not disclosed until this week.

If the party had waited out the storm in their cabins, one of the skiers said, the outcome might have been different.

The recent graduate, 21, was on a trail in the Lake Tahoe region of California on Tuesday and did not return, prompting a search. His death is under investigation, the authorities said.

The PAC and the White House say the donation had nothing to do with President Trump’s tirade against a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

George Mitchell, a former Senate majority leader credited with bringing peace to Northern Ireland, is under renewed scrutiny over his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

King Charles III’s family, long rocked by infighting and grievous losses, is facing what could be the gravest threat to its moral authority in more than a generation.

Drawn to President Trump for his pledge to take down the political elite, some of his young constituents say he has failed them.

Tech workers are increasingly worried that the artificial intelligence they are building will replace them. But some are optimistic that it is just one more tool to work with.

Gisèle Pelicot stayed silent after dozens of men were convicted of raping her. Now, Ms. Pelicot is finding peace by publicizing her ordeal and explaining how she survived it.

A Texas law passed last year was the first in the nation to explicitly ban clubs based on gender identity in K-12 schools. The judge blocked its enforcement in three school districts.

A federal appeals court vacated a temporary block on the 2024 law, tossing a previous decision that called it “plainly unconstitutional.”

Forecasts on Friday began to make another major snowstorm look far more likely. Snow is expected to begin falling Sunday.

What does this mean for the president, the economy — and your bank account?

It’s time to end the era of colorblind casting.

Acclaimed overseas for defying censors, Lou Ye is more interested in reaching Chinese audiences, as he holds up a cinematic mirror to their lives in modern China.

Karl R. Jacobson was arrested and accused of stealing from city coffers as he placed $4.5 million in online bets. He resigned in January, when the accusations first surfaced.

Over three decades, he reported from Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and elsewhere and wrote well-received books based on his reporting, including one about his globe-trotting cat.

As melting snow reveals weeks’ worth of uncollected dog waste, frustration at the state of the sidewalks has boiled over.