Minimalist News

Rebuttals And Responses To Lingering Gloom About AI Authored by Arthur Schaper via Americsan Greatness, In a previous article, I outlined two concerns regarding the rise of AI. * One deals with the Doom, i.e., safety concerns. No one has challenged me on this aspect, and now, with the rise of AI-induced suicides, protections for children must come into play. * The other concern centers on the Gloom: the elimination of jobs and the irrelevance of human ingenuity. Will AI create more and better than human beings? What happens to the workforce if AI can eliminate the next generation of employees? I countered this

Washington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists To Stop Investigating Somali Daycares Or Face Potential Hate Crime Charges Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, The Washington state attorney general released a statement on X Tuesday evening warning independent journalists to stop investigating fraudulent Somali daycare centers or they could be charged with a hate crime. “My office has received outreach from members of the Somali community after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking,” State AG Nick Brown stated. “We are in touch with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families regarding the claims being pushed

Iran Grinds To A Halt As Several Killed & Wounded, Including IRGC Member, Amid Raging Protests Reuters and other international outlets have reported several people killed amid unrest in Iran overnight into Thursday, as the large-scale economic-driven protests which have swept multiple cities reach the fifth consecutive day. "The semi-official Fars news agency and rights group Hengaw reported deaths in Lordegan, a city in western Iran," Reuters writes. "Authorities confirmed one death in the western city of Kuhdasht, and Hengaw reported another death in the central province of Isfahan." At least one among the dead is reported to be a government security force

HHS Freezes Childcare Payments Nationwide After Bombshell Somali-Linked Daycare Fraud Allegations In Minnesota The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all federal childcare payments to every state following alleged Somali-linked welfare fraud involving Minnesota daycare and autism centers. These revelations shocked the nation earlier this week after being exposed by citizen journalist Nick Shirley. A growing army of citizen journalists is descending into corrupt, Democratic-run states this week, where additional suspected welfare fraud schemes tied to migrant networks are being uncovered - even as corporate media outlets attempt to downplay the findings and discredit those reporting them. Legacy media has

5 States Limit Soda, Candy For SNAP Recipients To Curb Obesity Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, Residents in five states receiving federal food assistance will face new restrictions on their benefits when it comes to purchasing soda, candy, and other items categorized as unhealthy starting Thursday, marking the first push to overhaul the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia are leading the charge on the new restrictions through waivers approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The changes affect about 1.4 million SNAP participants under the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, pioneered

Nick Shirley Teases New "Crazier" Video: "It's Going To Be A Masterpiece" Independent journalist Nick Shirley, fresh off his viral exposé documenting apparent widespread fraud in Minnesota's taxpayer-funded childcare programs - much of it linked to the state's Somali community - has teased a major follow-up investigation into additional abuses. “We have a whole ‘nother video coming out about other fraud that’s taking place,” Shirley said in an interview with businessman and podcaster Patrick Bet-David. “It’s going to be a masterpiece because it is crazy.” > 🚨 Nick Shirley Says His Next Video Will Be Even Crazier Than the First > > “It's going

What Do You Resolve For 2026? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, One of the most underrated intellectuals of the 20th century is Henry Hazlitt, author of “Economics in One Lesson” (1946). His career is far more varied than people know. Long before he was writing free-market treatises, he was a working journalist on Wall Street and, later, literary editor of The Nation and then H.L. Mencken’s chosen successor at The American Mercury. His first published work is a wonderful little book published in 1922 called “The Way to Will Power.” He was only 28 when he wrote it, and spoke

12 NASA Satellite Images That Tell The Story Of Earth In 2025 From devastating wildfires to swirling cloud vortices, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites captured remarkable views of our planet throughout 2025. As Visual Capitalist's Nick Routley shows below, these images reveal both the beauty and fragility of Earth’s systems, documenting natural phenomena, climate events, and human impacts visible from space. All images featured in this article come from NASA’s Earth Observatory, captured by instruments aboard a variety of satellites in orbit around Earth. Together, they tell the story of a dynamic planet in constant flux. THE PALISADES FIRE’S FOOTPRINT NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat

American Legal Sovereignty Threatened By Greenpeace's Retaliatory EU Lawsuit Authored by John Swallow via The Epoch Times, The strength of the American civil legal system rests on a simple principle: those who break the law on U.S. soil answer to U.S. plaintiffs in U.S. courts. Our constitutional order depends on juries empowered to weigh evidence, judges and plaintiffs entrusted to enforce verdicts, and a system insulated from foreign interference. However, that foundation is now being tested by an activist organization determined to escape domestic accountability for domestic acts, by turning abroad and using a foreign country’s laws and courts to take another

Finnish Police Seize Russia-Linked Ship Accused Of Cutting Undersea Cable The Europeans have taken yet more 'counter-Russia' actions amid widespread allegations that Moscow has sponsored sabotage campaigns targeting EU communications infrastructure. Finnish authorities have newly detained a cargo ship suspected of damaging an undersea communications cable. The vessel has been identified as the Fitburg, and had departed St. Petersburg, Russia and was traveling toward Israel when it was intercepted by Finnish authorities. Handout: Anadolu/Getty Images Security officials have since confirmed, "Finnish authorities have taken control of the vessel as part of a joint operation." The cable in question links Helsinki with Tallinn and is operated

Russia's Secretive Hypersonic, Nuclear-Ready Oreshnik Missiles Go Operational In Belarus Belarus has announced that Russia's Oreshnik intermediate-range nuclear capable ballistic missile system has been deployed on its territory, though details and specifications - including range - of the projectile remain secretive. On Tuesday, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense released a video it claims shows the Oreshnik system being deployed inside the country. It featured Russian troops and technicians in a ceremonial flag-raising while stationed in Belarus, along with a convoy of vehicles moving into a field-based firing position before being concealed under camouflage netting.  Oreshnik, via Reuters Accompanying this was the recent emergence of satellite

The Real Existential Threat Facing Europe Authored by Nouriel Roubini via Project Syndicate, Contrary to what far-right leaders claim, Europe’s greatest challenge is not immigration or “wokeness,” but its own economic and technological backwardness. With productivity growth lagging and innovation increasingly taking place elsewhere, Europe must confront its structural weaknesses or risk falling further behind. US President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy offers a misguided assessment of Europe, long regarded as America’s most reliable ally. Unrestrained immigration and other policies derided by administration officials as “woke,” it warns, could lead to “civilizational erasure” within a few decades. That argument rests on a fundamental

40 Dead, Over 100 Injured After Fire Rips Through Swiss Ski Resort Bar Swiss emergency services responded to an explosion and fire that killed 40 people and injured about 100 during New Year's celebrations at a bar and lounge called Le Constellation, located in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland. > BREAKING: Swiss police say "several dozen" people are dead, and "100 or so" people have been injured after the fire at Le Constellation bar in Switzerland https://t.co/5MpePzQTlm > > 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/ZGSid31ZHi > > — Sky News (@SkyNews) January 1, 2026 Local officials said

2026: The Year Of Living Dangerously Authored by Lawrence Kadish via The Gatestone Institute, The British were the first to develop the aircraft carrier as an emerging weapon of war. But it was the Japanese who perfected the ship by combining as many as four aircraft carriers into a single battle group and deploying a task force that led to their devastating strike against the American fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Nearly a century later, another ally, the State of Israel, has pioneered asymmetrical warfare in which they combine their technological superiority in gathering intelligence with precision strikes to counter

Are Fireworks Integral To New Year's Eve? Fireworks are bad for the environment, distressing to animals and people with conditions such as PTSD, as well as dangerous - resulting in thousands of injuries in the United States alone each year. Yet, come New Year’s Eve, they are set off all around the world, as the clock strikes 12 in one timezone after another. In the U.S, the market is even booming, with the U.S. fireworks industry having reported an estimated $2.2 billion in revenue from consumers in 2024 and an additional $600 million on professional display fireworks. As Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the following chart,

Obama's Trojan Horse: How His Refugee Machine Engineered The Billion-Dollar Looting Of US Treasury Authored by X user Saggezza Etern, OBAMA’S BILLION-DOLLAR MINNESOTA FRAUD EMPIRE The Heist You Paid For Imagine waking up tomorrow to find your bank account empty. Every dollar you saved for your children’s tuition, your retirement, your security—gone. Now imagine looking out the window and seeing the thief driving a Porsche bought with your money, laughing as he waves a government-issued thank you note. This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is the reality of the American taxpayer in the wake of the single largest COVID-era fraud scheme in the nation’s

China's EV Makers Are Powering Southeast Asia's Bus Revolution Chinese-made electric buses are rapidly gaining ground across Southeast Asia as governments push to decarbonize public transport and Chinese manufacturers seek growth beyond a slowing home market, according to Nikkei Asia. In Jakarta, that shift is already visible. Transjakarta, the capital’s main bus operator, introduced electric buses from China’s BYD in 2022. It now runs 420 electric buses — nearly 10% of its fleet — including models from Skywell and Zhongtong, and plans to fully electrify its 10,000-bus fleet by 2030. For veteran driver Muhammad Iqbal, the change has been dramatic. A decade ago,

US Instructs Its Western-Nation Embassies To Report On Abuses Due To Mass Immigration Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The Department of State has instructed U.S. embassies located in Western nations to report human rights abuses occurring there due to mass immigration, according to a Dec. 30 thread on X. The embassies will “analyze government policies that facilitate mass migration or privilege migrants over citizens,” the department said. “The United States urges governments to protect their borders and defend their citizens against the human rights abuses caused by mass migration. The United States stands ready to work alongside nations across the Western

Trans Covenant School Shooter Made Pros-And-Cons List Before Massacre The public has been waiting for years to see the contents of Audrey Hale’s journals and manifesto ever since she shot and killed three students and three staff members at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27, 2023. Her writings were kept under wraps for years by the Biden administration and local law enforcement as court battles dragged on, with media outlets seeking their release. Many suspected the FBI, operating under Joe Biden, was slow-walking disclosure out of concern that the contents would undermine the preferred narrative at the time—that “white

Trump Pulls National Guard Out Of Chicago, Los Angeles & Portland President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he's pulling National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland.  "We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact," he wrote on Truth Social, adding that federal forces will "come back" if crime spikes again.  Earlier this month a federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from deploying members of the California National Guard in Los Angeles, and also directed the

Report of a drone attack on a port facility signals new phase in US military campaign against Nicolás Maduro * US wargames played out scenarios for Maduro’s fall. None of them ended well for Venezuela Nearly a week after Donald Trump first announced what he said was the first US ground strike in a four-month-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela, details remain very thin on the ground. CNN and the New York Times reported late on Monday that they had confirmed the CIA had used a drone to target a “port facility” allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua street gang. No

Former Brazilian president underwent a phrenic nerve block while temporarily released from prison for surgery Jair Bolsonaro underwent a second “phrenic nerve block procedure” on Monday to treat persistent hiccups. The treatment went well and the former Brazilian president’s condition is stable, according to his medical team. Continue reading...

Train accident in Oaxaca is likely to raise criticisms about public works projects from the previous administration At least 13 people were killed when a train derailed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in an accident which is likely to revive opposition criticisms of the speed and dealings with which the country’s government builds its flagship public works projects. The incident took place on the Interoceanic Train, which was built to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, creating an alternative rail cargo route to the Panama canal intended to drive development in the

Trump alleged that US forces hit ‘very hard’ in what would mark his team’s first land strike on Venezuela if confirmed Donald Trump has claimed that US forces struck a “big facility” in Venezuela last week – but the president did not specify what it was, or where, and the White House has not commented further. “We just knocked out – I don’t know if you read or you saw – they have a big plant, or a big facility, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard,” Trump told Republican donor

Government said the move was due to its ‘unrestricted respect for human rights’ in the face of US aggression Venezuela has said it has carried out its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have freed 99 people detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by the dictator Nicolás Maduro, as it comes under increasing military pressure from the US. Civil society organisations have treated the news with caution and stressed that the releases were insufficient, noting that at least 900 political prisoners remain in the country. Continue reading...

Ador terminated the Australian-born singer’s contract on Monday and is now suing her, a family member and the band’s former producer The K-pop record label Ador is suing a former member of megaband NewJeans for millions in damages, it has announced, a day after removing her from the group following a year-long dispute that saw the band allege mistreatment and attempt to leave their contract. The compensation suit against Danielle Marsh, a 20-year-old Australian-born singer, comes months after a Seoul district court ruled that NewJeans’ five members must honour their contracts with Ador, whose parent company Hybe is also behind the K-pop

Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drills China’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing. Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” Continue reading...

Carmakers such as MG, BYD and Chery are set to pass 200,000 mark in sales, analysis suggests, double 2024’s total Chinese brands are on course to account for one in every 10 new cars sold in Britain during 2025, a marked increase on last year as sales increase across Europe. Manufacturers led by MG, BYD, and Chery are on track to break the 200,000 mark in UK new car sales in 2025, meaning they are very likely to account for 10% of the market, according to Matthias Schmidt, an analyst tracking electric cars across Europe. Continue reading...

PM Sanae Takaichi joins petition asking for better facilities for women to match improved representation Nearly 60 female lawmakers in Japan, including the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, have submitted a petition calling for more toilets in the parliament building for women to match their improved representation. Japanese politics remains hugely male-dominated, although the number of women in the parliament rose at the last election – and Takaichi became the first female prime minister in October. This is reflected by there being only one lavatory containing two cubicles for the lower house’s 73 women to use near the Diet’s main plenary session hall

Foreign affairs department statement says Australia opposes any actions that ‘increase the risk of accident, miscalculation or escalation’ * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia says it is deeply concerned about Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, and has raised the issue with Chinese officials. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said the large-scale simulations risked destabilising the region and could result in an accident or escalation. Continue reading...

Signatories to open letter include former Reserve Bank of Australia governors Philip Lowe and Glenn Stevens and billionaire James Packer * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian business leaders and public figures have joined forces to call for a commonwealth royal commission into antisemitism, radicalism and the events leading up to the 14 December Bondi beach terrorist attack. At least 120 leaders have signed the open letter, including former Reserve Bank of Australia governors Philip Lowe and Glenn Stevens, billionaire James Packer, former Telstra chief executive David Thodey, as well as sporting figures, politicians and university

A woman has also died after being swept into the ocean in Sydney on New Year’s Day, while the body of a man was found near Palm beach * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An Irish man has died at Whitehaven beach near the Great Barrier Reef, with three other people found dead and grave fears for two more after separate incidents in waters off Sydney during a horror New Year period. Queensland police said that emergency services received reports that a 35-year-old Irish man had been found dead in the water at the popular beach

While last year’s 8.6% increase isn’t likely to be repeated, economists expect growth across the country as demand continues to outstrip supply * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australian residential property values are expected to rise by at least 5% over the next 12 months – on top of the 8.6% increase seen in 2025 – exacerbating a housing affordability crunch across the country. Every state and territory capital city recorded increases last year, according to Cotality data, led by a dramatic 18.9% rise in Darwin, 15.9% in Perth and 14.5% in Brisbane. Continue reading...

Blaze on city’s eastern fringe contained but not controlled on Thursday with firefighters warning of risk to lives and homes * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A teenager accused of tossing a firecracker into Perth bushland on New Year’s Eve has been charged after it sparked a bushfire that threatened homes on the city’s eastern fringe. More than 2,000 homes and businesses lost power as the fire, east of Perth airport in Western Australia, approached properties near Maida Vale, Forrestfield and Kalamunda, police said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...

Australia’s foreign affairs department seeking to verify reported death of Russell Allan Wilson on 12 December * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The department of foreign affairs is trying to confirm the death of an Australian man who was reportedly killed while fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russia last month. According to multiple posts on social media, Russell Allan Wilson was killed on 12 December in the Donetsk region. The ABC reported that a friend of Wilson said he was killed during his final mission, and had been due to be married the week after his

Ukraine rejects claim, saying its forces exclusively targeted Russian military or energy sites A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and injured at least 50 more as they celebrated the new year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said, as tensions between the two countries continue to rise despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks. Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader, Vladimir Saldo, said in a statement on Telegram on Thursday. He said one of the drones was carrying an incendiary mixture that

Police have ruled out an attack on Le Constellation bar as investigation starts into cause of fire Officials at the press conference are asking for “prudence” from those in the town, reminding them not to make unnecessary demands on hospitals, which are overwhelmed. Please leave investigators to do their work, they say. Continue reading...

Blaze that swept through crowded New Year’s Eve bar in Crans-Montana also injured 115 people * Le Constellation bar fire in Switzerland: what we know so far Switzerland will hold five days of mourning after an “unprecedented” fire tore through a crowded bar, killing about 40 people and injuring 115 who were celebrating at a New Year’s Eve party in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana. The country’s president, Guy Parmelin, described the blaze as one of the most traumatic events in Switzerland’s history. “It was a drama of an unknown scale,” he said, paying tribute to the many “young lives that

New year party at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana turned into tragedy as flames shot across the ceiling The new year had passed its first hour and the party in Le Constellation was in full swing with revellers dancing to thumping hip-hop. Dawn was far off and the teenagers and twenty-somethings were in no hurry to leave the bar. It was, after all, New Year’s Day. Outside, darkness draped Crans-Montana, a ski resort in the Swiss Alps with a reputation for posh luxury. Le Constellation, however, had few pretensions: a cavernous venue with TV screens on the top floor to watch sport,

Investigators say no indication of terrorism or arson after 40 people die and 115 are injured in blaze Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 115 injured, many of them seriously, after a fire at a bar in the Swiss Alps during a new year celebration at a luxury ski resort. The blaze ripped through the packed bar, Le Constellation, early on Thursday in Crans-Montana, one of the top-ranked ski destinations in Europe, which lies about 25 miles (40km) north-west of Zermatt. Continue reading...

Nationwide protests against living conditions enter fifth day with security forces reportedly using live ammunition The largest protests in Iran for three years entered a fifth day on Thursday amid reports of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces, with state-affiliated media confirming at least two people had been killed. Although state media did not identify those killed, witnesses and videos circulating on social media appear to show protesters lying motionless on the ground after security forces opened fire. Continue reading...

Analysts attribute increase to kingdom’s ‘war on drugs’ as authorities kill 356 people by death penalty Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year. Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh’s “war on drugs”, with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions. Continue reading...

Sources say generators and tent poles restricted from humanitarian bodies but commercial shipments allowed in Israel is running a parallel system of controls for shipments into Gaza, allowing commercial traders to bring goods into the territory that are barred for humanitarian organisations. Basic life-saving supplies including generators and tent poles are on a long Israeli blacklist of “dual-use” items. The Israeli government says entry of these items must be severely restricted because they could be exploited by Hamas or other armed groups for military ends. Continue reading...

Demonstrations against deteriorating living conditions have widened to include criticism of how Iran is governed Alborz, a textile merchant in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, decided he could no longer sit on the sidelines. He closed his shop and took to the streets, joining merchants across Iran who shuttered their stores and students who took over their campuses to protest against declining economic conditions. The sudden loss of purchasing power pushed Alborz and tens of thousands of other Iranians into the streets, where protests are now entering their fourth day. Students have paralysed university campuses, traders have shut down their stores

Government should have appointed an envoy to carry out checks on activist in citizenship row, says Emily Thornberry The government could have avoided “embarrassing failures” in the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah by having a special envoy deal with complex cases involving Britons detained abroad, Emily Thornberry has said. The chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee criticised “serious shortcomings” in information sharing, which she said could have been resolved by having a dedicated official carry out background checks. Continue reading...

Zia’s archrivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation Khaleda Zia, the first female prime minister of Bangladesh whose long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina defined the country’s politics for a generation, has died aged 80. Zia was one of the most significant and divisive political figures in the country since Bangladesh independence 50 years ago. Her death was announced on Tuesday morning by the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP). Continue reading...

Turnout appears low for vote in which most candidates seen as allies of junta and large areas excluded by war Polls have closed in conflict-racked Myanmar, ending the first phase of an election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to legitimise the military junta’s rule. The military has touted the vote as a return to democracy almost five years after it seized power in a coup, ousting the country’s then de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, detaining her and sparking a spiralling civil war. Continue reading...

Kathmandu mayor Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah will run for prime minister with presenter Rabi Lamichhane’s party after deadly protests that ousted government Two of Nepal’s most popular political leaders have formed an alliance ahead of next year’s election in the wake of deadly youth-led protests earlier in the year that ousted the government. Television host Rabi Lamichhane, the 51-year-old chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP), and the 35-year-old rapper turned Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah pledged to address the demands of the younger generation following September’s deadly anti-corruption protests. Continue reading...

As the military pushes ahead with a widely condemned election, Beijing’s priorities are proving decisive * Myanmar’s first election since the 2021 coup: everything you need to know Myanmar’s military has managed to regain momentum in its battle against a determined patchwork of opposition groups, retaking some territory, and pushing ahead with a widely condemned election that begins on Sunday. It is a turnaround for the military, which had appeared so beleaguered that some dared to question if it could collapse. Continue reading...

Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracy Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”. “This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar

Hundreds of people gather in Centenary Square to see in 2026 after false claims online promise ‘dazzling’ display The new year got off to an anticlimactic start for hundreds of people in Birmingham who were tricked into attending a non-existent New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Again. Crowds of revellers gathered in the city’s Centenary Square, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pyrotechnics display to welcome in 2026. Continue reading...

Second highest annual number of irregular arrivals on record reached British shores in 2025 More than 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year, figures branded “shameful” by the Home Office have revealed. The government said 41,472 people arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in 2025 – the second highest number on record after 45,774 made the journey in 2022. Continue reading...

New Labour advertising guru Chris Powell says urgent plan needed to ‘wage and win the daily war for attention’ * Chris Powell: What is Keir Starmer doing to push back the populists? Not nearly enough Keir Starmer does not have enough of a plan to defeat the “existential threat” that populism poses to UK democracy and should undertake a “fundamental reset”, New Labour’s former advertising strategist Sir Chris Powell has warned. Powell, who is the brother of Jonathan Powell, Starmer’s national security adviser, warned there were just three years to stop the “new and terrifying threat” of populists, suggesting Reform UK could

British charitable trust that draws on OxyContin-maker fortune says it exempted names to protect reputations Two charities that received a combined total of more than £1.1m from the British charitable trust run by the Sackler family were kept out of its latest accounts to protect their reputations from “serious prejudice”. The trust, which draws on the Sackler fortune that came out of the US opioid crisis, gave £3.8m to arts, eduction and science bodies in 2024, according to its latest accounts, filed on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading...

Harsher penalties and a ‘reshaping’ of the sector predicted when Financial Conduct Authority takes over as regulator UK law firms are bracing themselves for a money-laundering crackdown as ministers race to improve the City’s reputation ahead of a fresh financial crime review. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been designated as the new anti-money laundering watchdog for the legal sector, in a move that experts warn could result in “sharper” penalties and ultimately reshape the industry. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * Zohran Mamdani promises ‘new era’ for New York City in first speech as mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji appearing on stage for his inauguration ceremony earlier. New York is a place that “a young immigrant democrat socialist Muslim can be bold enough to run and brave enough to win,” he says, “not by abandoning conviction, but by standing firmly within it.” Continue reading...

Mayor says ‘I will govern as a democratic socialist’ at inauguration ceremony featuring AOC and Bernie Sanders Zohran Mamdani on Thursday vowed to “reinvent” New York City in a speech on his first day as mayor, promising “a new era” for America’s largest city and an ambitious start to his term of office. The 34-year-old political star and democratic socialist, who a year ago was a virtually unknown state assemblyman, is the city’s first Muslim mayor, first of south Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. He is also the first to be sworn in using the Qur’an. Continue reading...

President tells Wall Street Journal in interview that his doctors encouraged him to take lower dose but he declined Donald Trump takes “more aspirin” than his doctors recommend but says his “health is perfect”, according to an interview given to the Wall Street Journal after the outlet recently questioned the 79-year-old president’s health. Trump told the Journal that the large dose of aspirin he take daily causes him to bruise easily and that doctors have encouraged him to take a lower dose – but he declined the advice because he has been taking it for 25 years. Continue reading...

Abortion was seen as one of Democrats’ strongest issues in the 2024 election – new polls indicate that may be shifting Up to seven states will vote on abortion rights this year. But recent polling indicates that Democrats may not be able to count on the issue in their efforts to drive votes in the 2026 midterms, after making abortion rights the centerpiece of their pitch to voters in the elections that followed the fall of Roe v Wade. In 2024, 55% of Democrats said abortion was important to their vote, according to polling from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). But

President auctioned off portrait painted live onstage and said his new year’s resolution was ‘peace on Earth’ Donald Trump welcomed 2026 with a glitzy bash at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach where he auctioned off a freshly painted portrait of Jesus Christ for $2.75m and said his new year’s resolution was a wish for “peace on Earth”. The portrait of Jesus had been painted onstage by artist Vanessa Horabuena who, the president said, was “one of the greatest artists anywhere in the world”. Continue reading...

US President Donald Trump blamed aspirin for large bruises on his hand and denied falling asleep while attending public meetings in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Thursday. In the interview defending his health, Trump also changed his previous statement about receiving an MRI scan in October, saying it was instead a quicker CAT scan. Trump, who at 79 is the oldest person to assume the US presidency, told the Journal “my health is perfect” and expressed frustration with...

Protesters and security forces clashed in three Iranian cities on Thursday, with six people reported killed, the first deaths since the cost-of-living demonstrations broke out. The protests began on Sunday in Tehran, where shopkeepers went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, and have since spread to other parts of the country. On Thursday, Iran’s Fars news agency reported two people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province...

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. Mexico stands by its decision for 50% tariffs on Chinese goods Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in December defended Mexico’s decision to impose new tariffs on imports from China and other Asian countries, describing the move as a necessary step to protect hundreds of thousands of domestic...

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. EU fears China’s role in Russia’s war on Ukraine is deepening European officials were parsing evidence of an increase in battlefield weapons being shipped from China to Russia as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine prepared to drag into its fifth year, adding to the well-documented flow of goods with...

Brazil’s Supreme Court has rejected former president Jair Bolsonaro’s request to convert his prison sentence for plotting a coup to house arrest, according to a ruling published on Thursday. Bolsonaro’s lawyers submitted the request on Wednesday, citing a “real risk of a sudden worsening” in health for the far-right ex-leader as the reason to serve his 27-year sentence at home. Bolsonaro, 70, has been hospitalised for more than a week after undergoing surgery for a groin hernia and then a...

Iran executed at least 1,500 people last year, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said on Thursday, in what it called an “unprecedented” hike in the use of capital punishment. “It is very alarming,” the group’s director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said of the provisional toll. “It is unprecedented in the last 35 years. As long as Iran Human Rights has existed, we have never had such numbers.” In 2024, Iran executed at least 975 people, according to IHR and the French group Together Against...

Russian officials on Thursday said a Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, as tensions between the two nations continue to spike despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks. Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader, Vladimir Saldo, said in a statement on Telegram. He said that one of...

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has concluded that Ukraine did not target Russian President Vladimir Putin or one of his residences in a recent drone attack, US media have reported. Various media, including The Wall Street Journal as well as the broadcasters PBS and CNN, cited unnamed US government officials in their reports published on Wednesday evening, contradicting serious accusations made by Moscow at the start of the week. Initially, US President Donald Trump also criticised...

Judging by investor sentiment in the final quarter of last year, the spectacular rally in mainland Chinese and Hong Kong equities is over. The CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks declined 0.2 per cent while the MSCI China Index fell by over 7 per cent. The Hang Seng Index, meanwhile, lost 4.5 per cent. While most Wall Street banks remain bullish on Chinese stocks, some have turned more cautious. Morgan Stanley believes 2026 will be “a year of stabilization after 2025’s high...

About 40 people were killed and another 115 injured, most of them seriously, after a fire ripped through a bar’s New Year celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight on Thursday, police said. Authorities did not immediately have an exact count of the deceased. The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue, and overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of one of Switzerland’s worst...

Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was sworn in on Thursday to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump. After the clocks struck midnight, bringing in 2026, Mamdani took his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop to begin managing the United States’ largest city. He is New York’s first Muslim mayor. His office said the understated venue beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday his country was “10 per cent” away from a deal to end the war with Russia, but cautioned that the most important issues were unresolved and warned against rewarding Moscow. US-led efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent weeks, but both sides remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement. Russia, which occupies around 20 per cent of Ukraine, is pushing for full...

Despite China-EU trade frictions, Paris and other European cities remain the top destinations for Chinese travellers, with growing China-France trade and visa-free entry spurring companies like Air France-KLM to explore new opportunities. The Franco-Dutch airline group reported strong inbound demand from Europe in 2025, driven by China’s visa-free policy for travellers from more than 30 European nations, covering both business and leisure segments. In the first three quarters, the company posted...

Bulgaria became the 21st country to switch to the euro as it entered the new year on Thursday, a milestone met with both cheers and fears, nearly 20 years after the Balkan nation joined the European Union. At midnight, Bulgaria gave up the lev currency, which has been in use since the late 19th century, and Bulgarian euro coins were projected onto the central bank’s building. Successive governments in the country of 6.4 million people have advocated joining the euro, hoping that it will boost...

US President Donald Trump piled on criticism Wednesday of a decision to grant Hollywood superstar George Clooney French passports after a junior government official in Paris labelled the move a “double standard”. An official decree on Monday showed that 64-year-old Oscar winner Clooney, his wife Amal Alamuddin Clooney and their two children had become French citizens. Trump, whose administration has backed anti-immigration parties in Europe, said that Paris was welcome to the Ocean’s Eleven...

The United States Coast Guard is searching for survivors of a US military strike against a convoy of suspected drug vessels in the Pacific Ocean, US officials said on ‍Wednesday. President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out more than 30 strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September in a campaign that has killed at least 110 people. In a statement, the US military’s Southern Command said the military had carried out ⁠a strike against three...

Few developments over the past quarter century have been as consequential or widely debated as China’s ascent to global prominence as the vanguard of a rising Global South. To understand this change, we must look not only at outcomes but at the underlying drivers that made them possible. China’s development over the last 25 years did not occur by accident. It was not the result of any single policy. Rather, it was the cumulative product of farsighted design and vision as well as an evolving...

US ‌President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland ‍but he added in his social media post that federal forces would “come back” if crime rates go up. Local leaders in those cities and Democrats have said the deployments, which have faced legal setbacks and challenges, were unnecessary. They have accused the Trump administration of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence ⁠to justify...

US President Donald Trump issued the first vetoes of his second term, killing two bills sponsored by Republicans in Congress, including one from a prominent lawmaker who bucked the administration over the release of files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump vetoed legislation late on Tuesday to help complete a water pipeline project, a measure backed by congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican who is close to the White House. Trump, in his veto message, said he rejected the bill to...

As Wednesday turned to Thursday, people around the world said goodbye to a sometimes challenging 2025 and expressed hopes for the ‍new year to come. In Croatia, celebrations got off to an early start. Since 2000, the town of Fuzine has held its countdown at noon, a tradition that has since spread across the country. Crowds cheered and toasted each other with champagne and danced ⁠to music – all in the middle of the day. Some brave souls in Santa hats took a plunge into the icy waters of Lake...

China has bought at least 8 million tons (7.25 million tonnes) of US soybeans this year, according to people familiar with the matter, putting the world’s top importer on track to meet a pledge it made two months ago as part of an apparent trade truce with Washington. State-owned buyers have continued to book US cargoes into late December, the people said, asking not to be named as they are not authorised to discuss the purchases. That extends a buying spree that began in October and maintains a...

France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law seen by Agence France-Presse. The initiative is backed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier this month that parliament should start debating such a proposal in January. Australia this month imposed a social media ban on under-16s, in a world first. “Many studies and reports now confirm the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that his country believed it would win in Ukraine, where Moscow has led an almost four-year offensive. Putin’s traditional New Year’s Eve speech was first aired in the far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the first Russian region to enter 2026. He called on Russians to “support our heroes” fighting in Ukraine, saying: “We believe in you and our victory.” He wished a happy New Year to “fighters and commanders” in Ukraine and said: “Millions of people...

Finnish police said on Wednesday they had seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable that runs between Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland several hours earlier. No details about the identity of the vessel were disclosed. The ship is suspected of being “responsible for the damage to the cable”, which is owned by Finnish telecoms group Elisa and located in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, police said in a statement. Part of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland is...

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will undoubtedly play a significant role in how we will remember 2025. While economists predicted a growing possibility of a recession back in April, the US economy displayed unexpected resilience, with third-quarter growth reaching a stunning 4.3 per cent, bolstered by robust consumer spending and strong capital expenditure related to artificial intelligence. The impact of tariffs on inflation persists, although it appears less severe than economists feared....

Queen Camilla has described for the first time fighting off an attack by a man on a train when she was a teenager, speaking in an interview with the BBC in which she recounted how furious the assault had left her. “When I was a teenager, I was attacked on a train … I remember at ⁠the time being so angry,” she said during a discussion broadcast on Wednesday about violence against women. “I was reading my book and you know this boy – man – attacked me, and I did fight back.” She said she did not...

Mali and Burkina Faso have announced travel restrictions on American nationals in a tit-for-tat move after the United States included both African countries on a no entry list. US President Donald Trump, who has long campaigned to restrict immigration, expanded a travel ban earlier this month by barring people from seven more countries. The list included Syrian citizens, as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders, and nationals of some of Africa’s poorest countries, including Niger,...

The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter. The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September marked a significant escalation in the administration’s months-long pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The strike has not been...

Junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya was declared the winner of Guinea’s presidential election held over the weekend, according to incomplete results released late on Tuesday, the country’s first election since a 2021 coup. Doumbouya won 86.72 per cent of the votes counted so far, according to the General Directorate of Elections. Ahead of the vote on Sunday, analysts had predicted that a weakened opposition would result in Doumbouya’s win. The election was widely seen as a means to legitimise...

European aviation giant Airbus won another two major orders from Chinese clients for a total of 90 A320neo aircraft on Tuesday, just a day after receiving orders for 55 passenger jets of the same model from two other Chinese airlines. Also on Tuesday, China Express Airlines announced it was purchasing three A320 planes at a list price of between US$390 million and US$420 million. The orders came weeks after Airbus’ CEO accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to China and...

President Xi Jinping has issued a mandate to expand grain production as China moves to shield its food supply from global volatility, calling for renewed efforts to modernise agriculture and rural areas over the coming year. Speaking at a two-day work conference in Beijing that ended on Tuesday, Xi urged a “no-relaxation” approach to grain output and called for higher overall production capacity and efficiency by integrating high-quality land, seeds, machinery and farming techniques. “We must...

US ambassador to Nato Matthew Whitaker cast doubt on Tuesday on Russia’s accusation that Ukraine attacked President Vladimir ‌Putin’s residence, saying he wants to see US intelligence on the incident. “It is ‍unclear whether it actually happened,” Whitaker told Fox Business’ Varney & Co chat show in an interview about an alleged incident which Ukraine has denied. “It seems to me a little indelicate to be this close at a peace deal, Ukraine really ⁠wanting to get a peace deal done, and then to do...

Iranians have staged protests against worsening economic and living standards for a fourth day, with clashes between security forces and civilians erupting in cities across the Islamic Republic. Demonstrators took to the streets of Tehran and outside the capital on Wednesday, extending unrest that began after the national currency plunged to historic lows on Sunday. That has triggered a rise in food prices with inflation hitting more than 40 per cent in December, exacerbated by strict...

American environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late president John F. Kennedy, has died from cancer at the age of 35, her family announced on Tuesday. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation’s Instagram account. Schlossberg, a science and climate reporter for The New York Times, wrote movingly about her diagnosis with acute myeloid leukaemia in an essay...

France’s three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, is to attend the funeral next week of 1950s and 1960s film star Brigitte Bardot, a member of her team said on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron – who on Sunday hailed Bardot as a “legend” – would however not attend her funeral, a source in his office said. Bardot, who died aged 91 on Sunday, drew criticism in her later years for her anti-immigration views and for supporting the far-right. She was several times convicted in court for...

At least two oil tankers have made their way to Venezuela in recent days and others are navigating towards the country, a sign of ‍state-run oil and natural gas company PDVSA’s effort to expand floating storage and keep selling crude even as a US blockade has reduced exports to a minimum. US President Donald Trump this month announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in or out of Venezuelan waters as part of a strategy to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US move has...

Poland ‍has asked the European Commission to investigate TikTok after the social media platform hosted artificial intelligence-generated content including calls for Poland to withdraw from the EU, it said on Tuesday, adding that the content was almost certainly Russian disinformation. A TikTok profile showing videos of young women dressed in Polish national colours ⁠and calling for Poland to leave the EU has gained popularity in recent weeks. The profile has now disappeared from the...

Robbers used a large drill to break into a German bank’s vault room during the extended Christmas break and steal cash, gold and jewellery worth €30 million (US$35 million), police and the bank said on Tuesday. The spectacular heist in the western city of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, saw thieves smash open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes and make off with the loot. While the criminals remained at large, hundreds of distressed bank customers massed outside the branch on Tuesday...

The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives. The ban was meant to start on January 1, but the ministry for ecological transition said that results from a recent review into the “technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups” justified pushing back the deadline. It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of “progress made in replacing single-use plastic...

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it ‌was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for UAE forces to leave within 24 hours, deepening a crisis between the two Gulf powers and oil producers. Hours earlier, Saudi-led ‍coalition forces had attacked the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla. The air strike on what Riyadh said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment was the most significant escalation to date in a widening rift between the two Gulf monarchies. In...

Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules. Israel said the rules were aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organisations. But the organisations said the rules were arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid. Israel...

Eurostar said on Tuesday it was restarting services suspended earlier over a power supply problem in the Channel Tunnel, as passengers travelling in the busy run-up to New Year faced massive disruption. Travellers were left scrambling to find alternatives after the operator postponed all services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. “As the Channel Tunnel has partially reopened we will start to resume services,” Eurostar said in a statement on its website midafternoon. A spokesperson...

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday threatened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with imminent death in a text peppered with insults on Telegram. Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council and is known for his invective against Ukraine and its allies, referred to the Christmas address of Zelensky, saying he had wished death upon “a person” – presumably Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. “It is clear to everyone that he wishes death not only on ‘one person’,...

US President Donald Trump’s hopes for a grand deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping are being undercut by American allies’ self-interested amplification of the “China threat”. This year’s Nanking massacre memorial was particularly poignant in light of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s controversial remarks on Taiwan. Beijing warned that any attempt to challenge the post-war international order or undermine established historical truths would be “doomed to failure”. Meanwhile, Singaporean...

Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service in Belarus, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, as the US efforts to broker a deal to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine have entered a pivotal stage. The ministry released a video showing combat vehicles that are part of the mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile system driving across a forest as part of combat training. The ministry’s announcement followed a statement from Belarusian President...

The famously prickly comedian found a sympathetic adversary in the director of a CNN documentary about him. Their conversation with a reporter was … spirited.

The tanker, which had been sailing to Venezuela to pick up oil, has claimed Russian protection, although the U.S. authorities say it is a stateless vessel.

At least 80 people were released, including one with U.S. ties, though more than 800 remain detained in Venezuela for opposing President Nicolás Maduro’s rule, rights groups say.

Heirs of families that suffered in the Holocaust have gotten back precious items: not treasured art, but the keepsakes of dead relatives.

After eight years of training, Dr. Maureen McKiernan made her debut as the lead surgeon on an infant heart transplant — an operation on the edge of what’s possible.

Financial pressures have fueled a fifth day of demonstrations around Iran, with at least one person killed in the protests so far, according to the authorities.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates burst into the open this week with an unusually direct confrontation that has global implications.

Beijing is using a ban on the humble mollusk to punish Japan over its apparent willingness to defend Taiwan.

Side-blotched lizards probably don’t call the game that, but they play a version of it anyway. A new study explains the hidden biology that makes this possible.

The new mayor is an entirely familiar type of New York politician.

How did we get here? I don’t want to know.

The floods that struck last week just before the first anniversary of the January wildfires show how extreme weather is defining life in the L.A. region.

In 2026, there will be journeys to the moon and Mars, new visions of the cosmos and a solar eclipse that might be worth traveling for.

Gen. Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power more than four years ago, took over 80 percent of the vote, according to a government-controlled agency that he set up.

Ticket sales in North America totaled $8.9 billion for the year, up 2 percent from 2024. But the box office remains far below prepandemic levels.