Minimalist News

Military Depoliticization, Hegseth, And DEI Authored by 'Cynical Publius' via American Greatness, As I read and hear the usual cavalcade of woke, retired Democrat generals and admirals like McRaven , McCaffrey , Franken , and others falsely claiming that Pete Hegseth is “politicizing” the senior ranks of the U.S. military, inside my head, I am screaming in rage at the impunity with which they spread this pernicious and wholly inaccurate falsehood. Hegseth is doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE as he depoliticizes our military’s ranks by eradicating the very most political doctrine to ever infect the U.S. military since the U.S. Civil

California's $20 Million Attempt To Silence Medical Speech Authored by Danielle White via RealClearPolitics , In a trial set to begin June 24, California's Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a court to do something that should alarm every American, regardless of where they stand on abortion: punish nonprofit organizations with ruinous fines for speaking about a lawful medical treatment. The target is not fraud. These charities offer their services for free. It is not patient harm. There is no evidence of any patient being harmed. It is not even illegal conduct. The underlying treatment remains perfectly legal. The target

Tehran Retaliates Against Bahrain, Kuwait After US Bombing Campaign Along Iranian Coast Update(2300ET) : Earlier the IRGC warned: "If any aggression is repeated, the response will be broader." That broader response has come in the overnight into Sunday hours: Tehran attacks Bahrain, Kuwait after US bombs Iranian coast , Al Jazeera reports: Air raid sirens blare in Bahrain as Kuwait’s military says its air defenses are responding to "hostile missile and drone threats . " Iranian state media is also confirming the fresh 'retaliation' for limited US airstrikes over the last two days, triggered initially by the Iranians seeking to

Trump Signs Regenerative Agriculture Order To Boost Food Supply Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 25 to promote regenerative agriculture practices in an effort to support farmers and boost the nation's food supply security. President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a Rose Garden Club dinner with American farmers at the White House on June 25, 2026. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming approach designed to restore degraded soils. Trump said in his order that such practices can "strengthen soil health, lower input

A Civil War May Be Brewing In The Democratic Party Tuesday's primary results weren't just a bad night for the Democratic establishment. They were a warning shot that the party's socialist insurgency has arrived, is organized, and intends to win . And the problem for them is that they have no idea what to do about it, which could spark a civil war within the party. On election morning, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani joins former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander as he campaigns for Congress outside of an election polling center, June 23, 2026 in the Lower

US SNAP Payment-Error-Rate Hits High Of 10.62% Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The national payment error rate for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) hit 10.62 percent for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, far exceeding the 6 percent threshold set by Congress. “While this is a modest decrease from FY 2024, the FY 2025 rate still shows significant waste at the state level,“ the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a June 24 statement. ”Including both overpayments and underpayments, this year’s rate represents a collective $10.1 billion in improper payments nationwide.” The payment error rate measures how

"Iran Is Not Really A Threat To The US"; Curt Mills On Pulling The Chips Off The Table Re:Hormuz President Trump's Iran agreement remains under pressure after a fresh round of retaliatory strikes by the U.S. in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Iran allegedly targeted a commercial cargo ship with attack drones, U.S. forces responded by striking Iranian missile, drone, and radar sites. So the ceasefire is shaky but it seems ….. Against that backdrop, last night, American Conservative executive director Curt Mills and Will Chamberlain of the Article III Project joined prolific author Michael Malice to debate whether

Russiagate Prosecutor Calls Audible On 'Grand Conspiracy' Authored by Paul Sperry via RealClearWire , Although Donald Trump's defenders describe the Russia hoax and other efforts to frame the president as a "grand conspiracy," RealClearInvestigations has learned that the man now leading the probe of that scandal is pursuing multiple conspiracy prosecutions that are smaller and more manageable, according to several sources with direct knowledge of the probe. Since taking over the Justice Department's far-flung investigation in April, veteran prosecutor Joseph diGenova and his team quickly concluded that combining all of the alleged wrongdoing, which ranges from falsifying evidence and committing

Apple Wants To Buy Memory From China As Soaring Chip Prices Spark Inflation Shock Last Thursday, in the aftermath of Apple's biggest one day plunge since Liberation Day, and second biggest single-day drop ever... .... when the company lost over a quarter trillion dollars in market cap after the company's unprecedented price increase announcement which for some products was as much as 50% as Apple decided to pass on soaring component costs to consumers, following similar moves from other consumer electronics companies.... ... and which Apple blamed on "unsustainable" prices by the memory cartel - namely SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron

Ukraine Closes Week Of Record Drone Attacks On Russia By Hitting Important Weapons Plant Ukraine announced Saturday that it used its Flamingo cruise missiles overnight to strike Russia's Titan-Barrikady weapons plant , which reportedly manufactures parts for its powerful Oreshnik missile. The military plant is in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, which is a major industrial city in southwest Russia. Writing on X, President Zelensky described it as a "major industrial complex" where Russia "produces artillery systems and specialized military equipment, including components for missile launch systems." Getty Images "Every Russian defense facility involved in the war against Ukraine is a legitimate

Supreme Court's Alito Offers Unusual Response To Sotomayor's Dissent In Immigration Case Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times , At a recent Supreme Court sitting, Justice Samuel Alito took the unusual step of responding from the bench to Justice Sonia Sotomayor's spoken dissent from an immigration-related opinion he wrote. This combination photo shows Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Sept 16, 2024, in New York, left, and Justice Samuel Alito in Rome, Sept. 20, 2025. AP Photo The June 25 incident took place in the final days of the current court's session, as the justices try to issue opinions in remaining

Trump Shares New US Passport Design On Truth Social Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump on Friday shared on social media a rendering of what he said was the new U.S. passport design, underscoring a message of welcome paired with a call for good behavior while visiting. The new U.S. passport design shared by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social on June 26, 2026. @realDonaldTrump via Truth Social " The U.S.A.'s New Passport, which says, 'Welcome, but be good! '" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, which included a visual of the

Trump Admin Allows Release Of Anthropic's Mythos To Certain US Companies Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , American artificial intelligence company Anthropic said on June 26 that the government has authorized it to release Claude Mythos 5, its most advanced AI model, to certain U.S. organizations , reversing a previous order that suspended access over security concerns. Anthropic logo is seen in an illustration photo. Dado Ruvic/Reuters The Trump administration on June 12 issued an export control directive to suspend access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5 - which shares the same underlying model as Mythos 5

Hezbollah Supporters Block Roads, Encircle Govt Buildings In Beirut Over Israel Deal: 'They Sold Us Out' Mass protests broke out in Beirut on Friday into Saturday, with supporters of Hezbollah voicing their outrage at the Lebanese government having just signed a 'trilateral peace framework' with Israel and the United States , despite the IDF occupation of southern territory and sporadic Israeli bombings persisting. Hundreds of motorcycle-riding supporters were also seen circling streets through central Beirut, near the parliament building and along airport road. In some cases protesters blocked roads near sensitive government buildings, and were seen burning tires. The national

Friedman Was Right, Just Mostly Misquoted... Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, Milton Friedman’s famous one-liner that anchors half the inflation debates on financial television leaves out the part where the actual economics live. Once you put it back in, the doomist case gets a lot smaller. Per Bylund recently wrote a sharp piece for The Daily Economy arguing that CPI and GDP have become Goodhart’s Law in action. When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a useful measure. He has a point, and we’ll come back to it. But the bigger problem with the inflation conversation

Federal Court Clears Way For Gulf Of America Energy Development Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, A federal court has quashed a lawsuit objecting to federal supervision of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of America following the government’s steps of exempting those activities from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), citing national security reasons. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland decreed the case moot and said it did not hold jurisdiction to continue. The dismissal comes after the Endangered Species Committee’s unanimous March 31 move to exempt all Gulf of America oil and gas

Feds Nab Iranian In Montenegro Over Alleged $3.4BN Cyberattack Campaign Targeting US Institutions In the years leading up to President Trump coming into office and ordering Operation Epic Fury targeting the Islamic Republic for regime change, which failed to accomplish this ( early-stated ) goal, Iran had frequently been accused of orchestrating major cyberespionage campaigns targeting the United States and its allies. But rarely was any individual or group apprehended for such alleged cyberattacks, much less was definitive proof uncovered of backing from the Iranian government. But on Friday there has been a reported capture of an Iranian suspected cyber-attacker,

EU Joins US-Led Pax Silica Alliance To Secure AI Supply Chains Authored by James Xu via The Epoch Times , The European Commission, Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands have joined the U.S.-led Pax Silica partnership , expanding a group focused on securing supply chains for artificial intelligence and other critical technologies. Semiconductor chips on a circuit board of a computer on Feb. 25, 2022. Florence Lo/Illustration/Reuters The announcement came at a summit in Washington on June 23 hosted by the U.S. State Department. The partnership aims to strengthen cooperation on semiconductors, critical minerals, energy, and advanced manufacturing. U.S. Under Secretary

Zelensky Telegraphs 40-Day Pressure Offensive On Russia, Fueling Fears Of Slide Toward WW3 The Ukraine war is quite obviously escalating, especially regarding Ukrainian leaders seeking to "bring the war" to Russian soil, amid nightly drone attacks which have come in the hundreds and even thousands of late. President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking to seize on the momentum of repeat drone hits on Russian refinery and energy infrastructure - a reality Russia has suffered over many months, leading to a current fuel crisis spanning dozens of cities and regions, and especially Crimea, which has temporarily halted fuel sales to common citizens

When Extremists Run The Government Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker , Two can certainly play the “extremist” game... Politicians, government bureaucrats, central bankers, spy agencies, and mainstream news outlets lie to us every day. For some people, the previous sentence is patently obvious. For others, that sentence represents “fringe” thinking. For certain law enforcement agencies in North America and Europe, that sentence reveals potentially dangerous “extremism.” “Extremism” is such a morally squishy word. It means nothing. It suggests that the average beliefs of the average person in the average part of an average town are, on average, correct.

Search for survivors continues with nearly 70,000 people reported unaccounted for by their family members The ⁠death toll ⁠in ⁠the twin ​earthquakes that struck ⁠ Venezuela earlier ⁠this ​week ‌has ‌risen to ‌1,430, according to one of the country’s top politicians Jorge Rodríguez. Another 3,200 ​people were injured ⁠and 3,100 ​left homeless ​by the ​disaster, ​the National Assembly president added, speaking ​on ​state television. Continue reading...

Delcy Rodríguez says foreign rescue teams are arriving as anger grows at official response and limited resources Survivors tell of ‘brutal and fast’ Venezuela quake as hunt for survivors goes on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has vowed to fight to save “as many people as possible” as the official death toll from the country’s worst earthquake in more than a century almost doubled, but frustration was growing at the perceived sluggishness of the government’s response. Rodríguez’s brother, Jorge, the president of the national assembly, said on Friday that the official number of dead had risen to 920. Delcy Rodríguez

Various issues – including a rodent infestation and mould – have left the historic, sprawling Ottawa estate empty 10 Downing Street has two things: mice and a chief mouser . For more than a decade, an officially recognized feline has kept rodent infestation in the British prime minister’s residence to a minimum. Over a similar period, the official residence of Canada’s prime minister has seen an unchecked explosion of rodents. Continue reading...

Worst incident of its kind in country for more than 125 years leaves many searching for family members – and pleading for international help Venezuela death toll doubles as interim president vows to save ‘as many people as possible’ Nearly all of Ligia Level’s family lived in a trio of apartment blocks along Hotel Avenue, a seafront sweep of palm-specked resorts and high-rise condos along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast. When a powerful “doublet” of earthquakes jolted the region on Wednesday afternoon, those buildings and the lives within them came crashing down. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here China’s president Xi Jinping said Beijing was ready to provide Venezuela with “disaster relief and reconstruction” assistance. Xi sent a message of condolence to Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez today, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Continue reading...

Election will determine balance of power in New Caledonia before fresh negotiations with France on the territory’s status Polls opened in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia on Sunday for the archipelago’s first provincial elections since 2019, after the vote was delayed as talks stalled over its political future. The election, initially planned for 2024, will determine the balance of power in New Caledonia ahead of fresh negotiations with France on the territory’s status, with independence remaining the defining political issue. Continue reading...

The 46-year-old was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to board a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to police and local media Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Australian man has been arrested at a Thai airport in connection with the alleged murder of a 17-year-old girl whose naked body was found in a suitcase, according to local police. The man , 46, was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to travel on a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to

Austrian Grand Prix declares heat hazard as dramatic rise in temperatures forecast in central and northern Europe Temperatures are forecast to rise dramatically in parts of central and northern Europe this weekend as the intense heatwave continues . In Germany and Poland, highs up to or exceeding 40C (104F) are expected on both Saturday and Sunday, days after swathes of France experienced similar extreme temperatures. The Austrian Grand Prix, taking place this weekend in Spielberg, has declared a heat hazard , the first race to do so this season. Temperatures are expected to rise into the low 30s celsius during

All branches of the military will be taught how to use technology that has become a ‘game changer on the battlefield’, says defence minister All of South Korea’s military forces will be trained as drone operators in a sweeping overhaul of its warfare strategy, the defence minister has said. “All soldiers should be able to use drones like a second personal firearm,” Ahn Gyu-back, who heads the defence ministry in Seoul, said on Friday. Continue reading...

China’s leader wants to promote his alternative to the current world order, and his efforts are being assisted by a capricious US Xi Jinping meets Bangladesh’s new prime minister on Friday, the latest in a wave of world leaders to visit Beijing this year as the Chinese leader builds his influence and economic ties, and seeks to “shift the balance of power” away from the west. Xi’s meeting with Tarique Rahman comes less than two weeks after the Chinese leader welcomed Myanmar’s military chief-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, in Beijing. Continue reading...

Doubled penalties will have little effect if platforms not held to account for the content they carry, observers say Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The government needs to switch into “enforcement mode” and take on tech giants over its social media ban after doubling fines, experts have warned. The federal government announced on Sunday it would introduce new legislation to double fines to $99m for platforms that breach the social media ban, and give the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, stronger information-gathering powers. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Big tech not cooperating ‘as much as we’d like them to’: Watt Federal cabinet minister Murray Watt , says the government knows it’s needed to take more action to ensure social media giants are complying with a ban for under 16s that came into effect in December. These laws were brand new, never developed anywhere in the world. And what we’ve learned is that the powers that the safety commissioner has do need to be beefed up, also to give her powers across

Premier Chris Minns says he wants to restore confidence to beachgoers after series of shark sightings and attacks Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Shark-spotting drones will fly from dawn to dusk throughout the year at 70 beaches in New South Wales under an expanded monitoring program, the state government says. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the $34m initiative would restore confidence to beachgoers after a series of shark sightings and attacks. They include one by a great white shark on Sydney mother Leah

Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests several groups with thousands of members run by what expert calls ‘engagement farm’ operations in south-east Asia Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Some of the largest One Nation supporter groups on Facebook appear to be run from overseas by foreign digital creators who monetise content. Guardian Australia examined 14 of the largest pro- One Nation public groups with at least 8,000 members, and found most were created this year. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anthony Albanese says too many children still on platforms but he is ‘heartened’ by world-leading law Social media bans go global: big tech faces a reckoning after Australia’s crackdown Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The federal government will double the penalty for breaches of Australia’s youth social media ban to $99m, arguing tech companies are “not doing enough” to keep children off harmful social media sites. And the eSafety commissioner, now investigating potential breaches of the law by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok

Temperature records broken in Germany, Denmark and Slovakia as Europe remains gripped by heatwave After decades of climate warnings, why is Europe so unprepared for rising heat? Seawater is seeping into Italy’s longest river as the waterway starts to run dry in the heatwave, hitting a farming heartland that produces the milk for Parmesan cheese. The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy. Continue reading...

Denmark experiences highest temperature on record on Saturday as weather system spreads eastward Europe heatwave – latest updates Germany ⁠and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in western Europe spread eastwards, after temperatures broke records above 40C (104F). Denmark registered its highest temperature on record on Saturday, according to the Danish meteorological institute. “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest day ever since measurements began in 1874,” it said in a post on X. Continue reading...

US president says levy would be imposed immediately and supersede pre-existing trade deals with the country Donald Trump has threatened to place a 100% import tariff on any European country that imposes a tax on digital services from US companies. Writing on Truth Social on Friday, the US president said that “numerous European countries” had been discussing putting a digital services tax on American companies and that “some of these countries are close to actually doing this”. Continue reading...

Activists aim to repeat disruption of Jeff Bezos’s wedding when billionaire Tilman Fertitta drops anchor Protesters in Venice are planning to disrupt a visit by the billionaire US ambassador to Italy in his 117-metre superyacht, which they fear he plans to dock in the lagoon city. “We ruined the party for Jeff Bezos’s wedding last year – this year let’s ruin the ambassador’s tour!” said Stella Faye, a 28-year-old researcher and activist, at a meeting of about 40 demonstrators on Thursday. Continue reading...

Accumulation on Switzerland’s glaciers from last winter expected to all be gone by Monday amid ‘enormous’ melt rates across Alps Europe heatwave: latest updates Swiss glaciers are set to lose an enormous amount of ice due to the heatwave battering Europe, according to the head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos). The snow and ice accumulated last winter by Switzerland’s glaciers is expected to have all melted away by Monday, marking the alarming second-earliest arrival on record of the tipping point known as glacier loss day. Continue reading...

No immediate reports of damage after Bahrain hit by ‘number of drones’ as ship in strait of Hormuz also targeted Bahrain has said it was attacked by Iran with drones on Saturday, apparently in response to overnight US strikes on Iran . A ship in the strait of Hormuz was also attacked. Bahrain’s foreign ministry said a “number of drones” were launched at the country, though there were no immediate reports of damage. It condemned the attack and described it as a “flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents”. Continue reading...

Vice-president appeared on Bill Maher’s show hours before more military strikes were exchanged in strait of Hormuz JD Vance said on Friday that the US wins “either way” regarding negotiations with Iran , pointing to what he called the destruction of its nuclear program and diminishment as a country. “If we make the final deal, then great,” the US vice-president told HBO’s Bill Maher . “If we don’t make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They’re still much weaker as a country, so my attitude is America wins either way.” Continue reading...

Agreement could also end hopes of ICC jurisdiction in Lebanon, which advocates pushed for to prosecute Israel A new agreement between Lebanon and Israel could block victims of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon from pursuing accountability and hinder future efforts to give the international criminal court jurisdiction in the country, legal experts have said. Lebanon and Israel signed a 14-point framework agreement in Washington on Friday designed to work towards an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Continue reading...

Candidates who believe Israel has committed genocide won big in New York – will it push the party to move their way? Regardless of which party wins control of Congress in November, New York City voters have all but ensured that next year a vocal bloc of new House Democrats will arrive on Capitol Hill, elected, in large part, because they believe Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza. That is an upshot of the primary elections held Tuesday in New York, where voters ousted two incumbent House Democrats and replaced a third who is retiring with progressives championed by

Arabic’s rich history of poetry lends itself well to ‘beautiful commentary that … sounds like a love letter to football’ Even before Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range shot had hit the back of net, the commentator had begun shouting. “Allllllllaaaaaaah!!!!” exclaimed Amer al-Khudhiri, an Omani football announcer for BeIN Sports, as the Portugal star scored his first goal of the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan on Tuesday. He took a deep breath and then began his soliloquy. “I knew you were coming for revenge. I knew you would answer everyone, the world, the World Cup, the doubters, those who have lost their

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

Husband arrested after Sylvie Yasmina, 54, and five children found at home in north-western province Pakistan police say they have rescued a French woman and her five children after she told authorities she had been held captive by her husband for more than a decade and subjected to years of domestic abuse in the country’s north-west. The woman, identified as 54-year-old Sylvie Yasmina, was rescued earlier this week from a mud-brick home in Bara, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, the district police chief, Waqar Ahmad, said. Continue reading...

Rights campaigners and MEPs say meeting would normalise regime that erases women from public life Rights campaigners and MEPs have warned that a meeting between EU officials and a Taliban delegation in Brussels risks normalising a regime that has banned girls from school beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women from public life, while its ranks include two leaders accused of crimes against humanity. A spokesperson for the Afghan foreign ministry confirmed that a delegation representing the ⁠Taliban had travelled to Brussels after the Belgian foreign ministry issued five single-day visas. Continue reading...

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibition The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits “high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff” from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’ Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax. Continue reading...

With more than a third of Welsh parliament seats, Reform MSs have caused tears and walkouts – and voted against their own party Tears, walkouts, own-goal votes: the Welsh parliament has only been sitting for a few weeks, but Reform UK has already made a dramatic first impression in its new role as the official Senedd opposition. Plaid Cymru won May’s historic Welsh elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which came second. He had been aiming for it to become Wales’s biggest party but it still performed better than any

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, the Grammy-nominated musician referred to his alcoholism as a parasite Fatboy Slim has said he felt paralysed and “rigid with fear” at the prospect of DJing sober after spending time in rehab to deal with his alcohol addiction. The artist, whose real name is Norman Cook, referred to his alcoholism as a parasite and said getting sober was “probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done” during an appearance on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne. Continue reading...

Suspect held after five people injured, including three who were taken to hospital, in Ealing on Saturday afternoon A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a vehicle hit multiple pedestrians on a busy London road before driving away, police have said. Five people were injured, including three who were later taken to hospital, during the incident in Ealing Broadway, Ealing, west London, at about 2.30pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Matthew Torbitt faces two counts of fraud by false representation in relation to travel and expense claims A prominent political commentator has been charged with fraud in relation to his time as a Labour adviser, the Guardian can reveal. Matthew Torbitt, a regular guest pundit on GB News, faces two counts of fraud by false representation in relation to his travel and expenses claims while working in parliament. Continue reading...

Passengers report being stuck on grounded planes in sweltering conditions as severe weather causes travel disruption across Europe Europe heatwave: latest updates Thunderstorms have caused severe delays to hundreds of flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, leaving passengers stuck on grounded planes for hours in the scorching heat. Overnight, downpours and thunderstorms lit up the skies of London after back-to-back days of 30C-plus weather as the UK and much of Europe experienced a record-breaking heatwave . Continue reading...

Flare-up in tensions comes as Washington and Tehran have been negotiating a memorandum of understanding to end an unpopular war The US military has launched further strikes on multiple targets in Iran , a day after it struck Iran in retaliation for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom) said its strikes were in “direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” and that it had targeted Iran’s “military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” in response. Continue reading...

Floods caused by thunderstorms that have dumped inches of rain on Kentucky and Indiana, with more possible Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, says four people have died as a result of flash floods from thunderstorms that have brought as much as 7in (18cm) of rain to the state. Beshear confirmed the four deaths in a social media post, noting three people were from Madison county and one was from Jackson county. “Please join Britainy and me as we pray for their families during this difficult time,” Beshear said. Continue reading...

Schroyer, whom Trump calls ‘a patriot’, led deportation campaign in Oklahoma under ICE-partnered program Donald ​Trump said on ⁠Saturday ⁠that ​he ‌will ‌nominate ‌Lance Schroyer as ‌the next director of US ​Immigration ⁠and ​Customs ​Enforcement ( ICE ), succeeding David Venturella, who had been performing the duties of the director. Trump said in a Truth Social post that Schroyer “has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma — A State where I WON all 77 Counties in 2016, 2020, and 2024! Lance is a former Oklahoma State Trooper, and United States Marine”. Continue reading...

Firefighters are battling the blaze in Fishlake national park that was stoked by strong winds and low humidity Hundreds of firefighters in Utah have struggled to suppress a wildfire that scorched an additional 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) as of Saturday, as low humidity and strong winds accelerated the fire spread, according to state officials. The Cottonwood fire erupted on Monday in the Fishlake national forest, located in central Utah. The blaze intensified overnight, growing from about 70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) to more than 92,000 acres (37,000 hectares) on Saturday morning, according to the US Forest Service. The fire is at

Democrats called plans for commemorative passport and gold coin with Trump portrait ‘more befitting a monarchy’ Donald Trump ’s efforts to brand the US government with his name and image advanced on Friday when the White House unveiled new images of a passport watermarked with his portrait to mark America’s 250th anniversary. The White House called it simply the “patriot passport”, while on Truth Social the president introduced it as “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’” Continue reading...

The death toll in Venezuela’s twin earthquake disaster reached 1,430 Saturday, and millions more were feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs, as the first US aid flights trickled into Caracas. Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, US-backed interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez said the country was “not alone”. The US said one runway at Simon Bolivar International Airport was now functioning and that C-17 US military planes were landing there, while a naval ship...

More than 100 Catholic bishops, nuns, priests and parishioners joined a procession across ⁠the US-Mexico border on Friday evening, urging the US government to treat migrants with dignity and respect. The procession, from Nogales, Arizona, to its sister city in the Mexican state of Sonora, was planned to coincide with commemorations of America’s 250th anniversary. “We want to be well together. This is what the Church is all about,” Bishop of Tucson, Arizona, James Misko said as he celebrated mass...

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that ‌the American military struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar ⁠sites for violating a US-Iran ‌ceasefire agreement. “There may come a point ‌when we are no ⁠longer ⁠able to be reasonable, ‌and will be forced to ‌militarily complete ‌the job that we ‌very successfully started,” ⁠Trump wrote on social media. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic ‌of Iran ‌will no longer exist.” The president’s remarks came soon after US...

As France sweltered under one of the worst ⁠heatwaves ever recorded this ⁠week, city dwellers scrambled for any ⁠escape they could find, with many checking into hotels to benefit from air conditioning and access to pools. Temperatures in Paris hit a June record of 40.9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, a day after France recorded its hottest day since records ‌began nearly 80 years ago. But few private flats in the country have air conditioning, particularly those in the densely populated capital....

Nowadays, prime ministers and even presidents cower before the mighty bond markets. These have the ability – in democracies, at least – to have leaders ejected from office via the ballot box, as even US President Donald Trump appears to acknowledge. However, it is not enough to simply offer dismissive gestures towards the bond markets, as some political leaders have discovered to their cost. It is much more important to ask why it is that bond markets have become so powerful. It is refreshing in...

The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and flat blocks three days after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out to find survivors. Authorities announced on Friday night that they would block access to La Guaira, the epicentre of the destruction, as chaos and traffic began to hamper search efforts. Officials said anyone who wanted to enter would now have to seek...

Three months of war with the United States and Israel may not have broken Iran’s resistance, but its economy has been brought to its knees. Forty days of American and Israeli bombing in March and early April – targeting energy grids, steel mills, petrochemical plants, ports and transport corridors – were followed by a two-month US naval blockade that sealed off much of what remained. The damage bill has reached an estimated US$270 billion against a gross domestic product of US$371 billion in...

The US government has allowed Anthropic to release its powerful Claude Mythos 5 artificial intelligence model to some “trusted” US organisations, partially reversing an order two weeks ago to suspend access over national security risks. More than 100 companies and institutions will now have access to Mythos 5, including many Fortune 500 companies, according to a source familiar with the new directive, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Concern that powerful AI...

President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a rendering of a new limited-edition US passport to mark the country’s 250th anniversary of independence, featuring his stern-faced likeness. “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform featuring the passport mock-up. The image features a glowering Trump leaning on his desk and his signature, with the text of the Declaration of Independence in the background. It appears to be based on...

The Texas Board of Education on ⁠Friday approved mandated reading ⁠lists for children in public schools that include passages from the Bible – the latest effort by leaders there to infuse the education system with conservative and religious ideals. The Republican-dominated board, in a 9-5 vote with ‌one member absent and not voting, approved the reading lists for more than 5 million public school students beginning in 2030. Texas had already mandated that the Bible’s Ten Commandments be...

My four-year-old son has become fascinated with his new friend, who has endless patience and an answer for everything. She is an artificial intelligence assistant on Doubao, one of China’s most popular AI applications. My son, obsessed with space, black holes and galaxies, keeps asking Doubao for related videos. When the video is of low quality or inaccurate, I would stop it and explain it may not be reliable. Despite my concerns about AI-generated information, I let him interact with AI within...

Burkina Faso’s ruling junta on Friday severed diplomatic ties with former colonial ruler France, accusing Paris of persistently acting against its interests. The military regime led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, in power since a coup in September 2022, is pursuing a policy repressive towards critical voices and hostile to Westerners, particularly France. “The government of Burkina Faso hereby informs the national and international community that it has decided to sever diplomatic relations with...

Billionaire investor Leon Black said on Friday that Jeffrey Epstein deceived him during a years-long relationship in which he paid the disgraced financier US$158 million, but insisted he committed no criminal wrongdoing as he appeared before the House Oversight Committee. Black is the 16th person to appear before the committee as part of their broader investigation into the web of wealth and influence around Epstein. Before entering the closed-door deposition, congressman James Comer, the House...

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 per cent tax on imports from any country that imposed a tax on digital services from American companies. In a post on social media, Trump took aim at European countries that he said were discussing “imminent” implementation of taxes on US companies. The president has repeatedly sought to use tariffs as a way to deter such taxes, but many countries are looking for revenues as their economies increasingly operate in digital realms that are...

The US struck Iran on Friday in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a provocation President Donald Trump said violated the ceasefire between the two countries. US Central Command said the military struck missile and drone sites, as well as coastal radar locations in Iran, shortly after Trump hinted at retaliation when asked whether Tehran would face consequences. “We’ll find out,” Trump told reporters. Asked whether he still considered the ceasefire...

A German court on Friday jailed for life a Saudi psychiatrist who killed six people and wounded more than 300 when he drove a rented SUV through a crowded Christmas market in 2024. Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, 51 – an anti-Islam activist and adherent to right-wing conspiracy theories – listened to the verdict from inside a bulletproof glass box, his hands shackled. He was convicted of six counts of murder and 338 counts of attempted murder by the court in the eastern city of Magdeburg. Judges...

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to illegally retaining classified information, sealing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow him to avoid a prison term. Bolton, who became an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump after serving in the Republican’s first administration, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28 by US District Judge Theodore Chuang in Greenbelt, Maryland. Bolton, 77, pleaded guilty to a single count of...

The official death toll from twin earthquakes that flattened parts ‌of Caracas and surrounding areas rose to 920, the authorities said on Friday. The government has estimated hundreds of people still trapped and missing nearly two days after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors struck about 160⁠km (100 miles) west of Caracas. International search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries are being scrambled to Venezuela to help look for survivors of Wednesday’s devastating twin earthquakes, the...

Leaders of the G7 rich nations might have gone into this month’s summit in France hoping for a united front against China. But, overshadowed by the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine and alienated by a mercurial US President Donald Trump, the lacklustre gathering came up short. There was no public agreement on how to address the so-called China shock 2.0, the supposed overcapacity issues and currency manipulation that is considered to be the cause of Chinese exports flooding into Europe. Instead of...

A deadly European heatwave that has saturated hospitals as temperatures soared to record highs was shifting east on Friday, with authorities warning of more misery on a continent not used to stretches of punishing heat. At least 101 million Europeans have roasted for several days in temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius, with an estimated few hundred people, including children, thought to have died as a result, many drowning as they sought respite from the inferno. Scientists said in a study...

Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday. The authorities in Crimea on Friday declared an “emergency situation” in a bid to ease the fallout from increasing aerial attacks on the illegally annexed peninsula. “A decision has been made … to sign decrees declaring a regional-level emergency situation in the Republic of...

Who would have imagined that just over 100 days could so change the world? The US-Israeli “war of choice” on Iran has fundamentally – perhaps, permanently – shifted the global balances of economic, military and political power, and not in America’s favour. Mix the direct impact of this gratuitous military conflict with the broader effects on global security, efforts to mitigate climate change, contain soaring public debt and “de-risk” after America’s unilateral efforts to unravel globally agreed...

Former Israeli defence chief Gadi Eisenkot is emerging as the main rival to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, months ahead of the nation’s parliamentary elections. Eisenkot’s new centrist party, Yashar! (Hebrew for “Straight!”), has rapidly been gaining popularity in opinion polls. It is currently second behind Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud. Israelis must elect a new parliament by October 27 at the latest, although the vote was most likely to be held on October 20. Opinion polls...

Iran and the United States may have entered a temporary ceasefire, but uncertainty over the agreement continues to cast a shadow over the operations of Chinese businesses across the Gulf region. While the deal has raised hopes that business activity could gradually resume, many traders and investors remain reluctant to make long-term commitments. For Abbas Shi, a Chinese businessman who has been helping connect Chinese companies with Iranian partners since 2024, the immediate priority is...

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. A crisis ‘defused’ as blockade lifted, assets to be returned to Iran after Swiss talks Statements from the US and Iran following talks in Switzerland have cooled tensions that nearly derailed the peace process, signalling an intention...

A New York City housing board voted on Thursday to freeze the rents for about one million regulated flats for up to two years, fulfilling a central campaign promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani only months into his term. The 7-1 vote by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board set increases at zero on both one-year and two-year leases from October. Hundreds ‌of tenants who crowded into a Manhattan museum auditorium cheered and blew whistles at the result. “This is a historic victory for New York City...

“Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, published the sayings of Confucius in his colonial newspaper and today’s sculpture recognising that ancient Chinese age is carved into the face of the United States Supreme Court very proudly,” said US President Donald Trump in Beijing last month. It took two-and-a-half centuries for an American president to explicitly acknowledge the profound Chinese impact on the US founding fathers. Trump’s recent declaration could be a historical first. Unless archival...

The US Supreme Court on Thursday backed a Trump administration move to strip deportation protections from some 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians living in the United States. The 6-3 ruling by the conservative-dominated court could have implications for more than one million beneficiaries of so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from more than a dozen countries. Justice Samuel Alito, whose majority opinion was joined by the five other conservative justices, said the Department of Homeland...

Venezuela has received offers of rescue teams and humanitarian aid from across the Americas, including from right-wing governments that had broken off diplomatic relations with Caracas less than two years ago, in the wake of this week’s deadly twin earthquakes. The quakes, of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and 39 seconds apart, struck the north of the country on Wednesday evening and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez declared a nationwide state...

King Charles will not live at Buckingham ⁠Palace after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, royal officials said on Thursday, ending nearly two centuries of the central London landmark serving as the British monarch’s primary residence. Officials at the same time disclosed the king paid £12.9 million (US$17.04 million) in tax in 2024/25 – the first time the figure has been made public – placing him among Britain’s ‌top 100 taxpayers. Members of the royal family have promised greater...

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. Here, Khushboo Razdan separates the signals from the noise in the US debate over drones. Whether responding to a wildfire or searching for a missing person, Battalion Chief William Marsiglio of Chesterfield, Virginia, relies on one tool...

The European Union is offering Brazil a “more beneficial” partnership on critical minerals than the United States or China, the bloc’s international partnerships commissioner said on Thursday, promising investment in domestic refining and technology as Brussels works to cut its dependence on Chinese supply chains. European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela made the case during a week-long visit to Brazil that included a stop on Saturday at a rare earth research and...

Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings on Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed at least 235 people and left some 4,300 injured. The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing from the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening – among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and felt throughout the region. The previous reported...

The controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention centre – a costly Florida facility that became a symbol of US President Donald Trump’s deportation drive – has shut down after less than a year in operation, officials said Thursday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, appearing at the remote Everglades site with White House border tsar Tom Homan, said the facility no longer held any detainees and had fulfilled the emergency role it was built to serve. The facility drew fierce criticism...

A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a US$16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service said. The US Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a...

The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) paused its operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after a vessel reported an attack, reigniting concerns about whether a preliminary deal to end the Iran war will hold. Nevertheless, at least four tankers including three huge crude carriers, which can each carry up to two million barrels of oil, entered the Gulf to load up, ship tracking data from LSEG and MarineTraffic showed on Friday. Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine said...

Harvey Weinstein avoided a fourth trial on a New York rape charge after his accuser said she could not endure testifying again, leading prosecutors to drop the #MeToo-era case on Thursday. The film mogul still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries. The judge formally dismissed the charge on Thursday. Weinstein had a...

The United States is mounting a large-scale humanitarian operation in Venezuela after twin earthquakes devastated the South American country, putting to the test Washington’s role as the most influential international partner in the country’s post-Maduro transition. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was deploying search-and-rescue teams, military logistics and humanitarian help after Wednesday’s magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which have killed at least 235 people and injured...

US consumer spending accelerated in May even as prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, suggesting Americans are powering through the fallout from the Iran war. The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 4.1 per cent last month from a year earlier, the most since April 2023, Bureau of Economic Analysis data out on Thursday showed. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending rose 0.3 per cent from a...

EU governments’ ministers gathered for a long day’s discussion of climate change policies on Thursday were surprised by a fresh-faced participant at their negotiating table: a three-month-old baby. Swedish Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari brought her son, Adam, to the EU council meeting in Luxembourg, to ‌highlight the benefits of parental leave policies which do not force women to choose between work and family responsibilities. “I wanted to showcase being an example of not having to make...

A German doctor admitted to having killed 12 patients nearly a year since the start of his high-profile trial at the Berlin Regional Court on Thursday. The 40-year-old palliative care doctor is charged with killing 15 patients in total – 12 women and three men – between September 2021 and July 2024. He is alleged to have administered a “lethal mixture of various drugs” to the victims, who were between 25 and 87 years old. Prosecutors also believe he set fires in some cases to try to obscure his...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Gulf allies on Thursday that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account, as he wrapped up a Middle East trip aimed at winning over regional partners with deep reservations about the preliminary accord. Speaking at a meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers in Bahrain – home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – Rubio said Washington was seeking an ‌enduring peace with long-time foe Iran that would not come at the expense of the security of allies in...

The European Union has disbursed the first €3 billion (US$3.4 billion) tranche of a €90 billion loan to Ukraine, the country’s prime minister announced on Thursday at the opening of a conference on Ukraine’s post-war recovery in Poland. The conference, attended by key European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Ukraine’s Western supporters are in it for a long...

A three-year-old has died after finding himself trapped in a car in the Paris region in extreme heat, a prosecutor said on Thursday, the third such fatality this week. The boy had slipped into the family car while his father thought he was napping, then found himself unable to get out with the child lock in the town of Saint-Gratien, the prosecutor said, after a police source and civil defence also reported the death. France on Wednesday recorded the hottest day since measurements began in 1947,...

There is a one in five chance that a packet of coffee beans sold in Europe contains residues of pesticides thought to have been erased during roasting, and in some cases include banned sprays that cause cancer, according to new research. There is a “systemic pattern” of pesticides showing up again and again in beans from most major production regions, says Coffee Watch, a US-based non-profit organisation seeking to reform the global coffee industry. Coffee Watch partnered with Pesticide Action...

The president said he was nominating Lance Schroyer, an adviser to Markwayne Mullin, the D.H.S. secretary, to lead the high-profile agency.

Chain-link fencing now surrounds the pool in preparation for a Fourth of July celebration. It has not stopped people from gawking.

The comedian and actor says class and the way she grew up inform everything about the way she lives now.

Washington is starting to follow a similar playbook to Beijing when it comes to artificial intelligence policy.

Brexit was supposed to let Britain return to a time when it still counted as a global power. A decade later, the costs are blindingly apparent.

Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said emergency crews were rescuing people from flooded homes and vehicles on Saturday. Rain was expected to continue into the night.