Minimalist News

Futures Slide, Oil Jumps After Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire Over Markets are on the backfoot this morning with equity futures and macro credit under pressure, bond yields spiking, the USD higher, and oil jumping after President Trump thrust geopolitical risks back into focus by declaring the ceasefire between the US and Iran to be over calling it “a waste of time” after the US launched strikes against Iran in response to attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. As of 8:00am, S&P 500 futures slid 0.7% and Nasdaq futures slumped 1% dragged lower by memory and chip stocks after

NATO Chief Backs Renewed US Strikes On Iran As 'Absolutely Necessary' Even if most individual NATO members are still reluctant to jump on board Trump's Iran war, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is busy praising American military action there amid the annual summit in Ankara. Rutte has freshly described the overnight fresh US military strikes on Iran in response to Tehran attacking multiple international shipping vessels "absolutely necessary" . Rutte voiced agreement with Trump that Iran's actions violated the MoU ceasefire agreement with the US, which required a response. Getty Images "When you have a ceasefire and Iran ​is basically violating

Senate Defense Bill Would Establish Fund For Government To Buy Into Private Companies Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times , A new bill in Congress would enshrine into law the ability of the executive branch to buy into private companies, and create a fund to finance the purchases. The Pentagon in Arlington, Va., in this file photo. Carolyn Kaster/AP The current Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act gives the Defense Department explicit authority to take ownership stakes in companies. A provision titled "Equity Investments and Related Matters" establishes a new "Department of Defense Equity Investment Account"

Trump Tells Bessent To Halt US Trade With Spain, Calls Madrid A "Wasted Cause" During a NATO summit in Ankara, President Trump instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cut off trade with Spain over defense spending. "I didn't speak to Spain. Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore," Trump told reporters. "By the way, I'd like you to cut it off," the president said, turning to Bessent, who replied: "Yes, sir." Trump then added, "Take it immediately. Don't even talk to them. They're hopeless. They're bad people ... They make so

Most Americans Don't Believe NATO Would Assist If The Country Were Attacked Via The Libertarian Institute Most Americans do not believe that European members of the North Atlantic Alliance would come to the United States' aid if attacked. Politico reported that a NATO poll found that just 43% of Americans believe the bloc would assist the US if needed . While Politico was unable to view survey results from previous years, a NATO official said that American confidence in the bloc was down about eight percent . via Associated Press The foundation of NATO is Article 5 of the bloc’s

Prospective Homebuyers Face Another Year Without Affordability Relief Goldman economist Ronnie Walker has some bad news for prospective homebuyers: while the housing market appears soft but broadly stabilizing, affordability pressures are unlikely to abate anytime soon. Walker expects mortgage rates to remain elevated through next year, while national home prices are still forecasted to rise modestly. That means buyers waiting for a price correction or lower rates may be disappointed, as the market remains locked in an ultra-low-turnover environment where high borrowing costs, limited affordability, and sticky prices keep many folks on the sidelines. " We expect housing demand to

US Bitcoin Reserve Stalls As Treasury And Commerce Vie For Control: Report Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com, Sixteen months after President Donald Trump ordered his administration to build a federal bitcoin reserve, the White House says it is still working out how the fund should be structured, and a dispute between two departments has slowed the effort, according to recent reporting from Bloomberg. Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to create what he called a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, along with a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile for other cryptocurrencies. The order directed the Treasury and Commerce departments

How America's Wealth Distribution Has Changed Over The Last 40 Years Wealth reflects the value of everything households own, including homes, stocks, businesses, and savings, minus what they owe. Because different wealth groups own very different mixes of assets, long-term market trends can reshape how the nation’s wealth is divided. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Boyan Girginov, tracks how U.S. household wealth has shifted across wealth groups from Q3 1989 to Q4 2025 using data from the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts . Wealth of the Top 1% vs. the Bottom 90% The table below shows how the wealth distribution

New Strikes On Iran Significantly Stronger Than Earlier Attacks, As IRGC Targets US Navy Warships Summary: US strikes on Iran announced , as 'heavy costs' for earlier targeting of multiple commercial vessels Oil rises as Treasury revokes June 21 Iran oil waiver Hormuz Threat Level Raised To " Severe " Three maritime incidents reported on Hormuz in last 24 hours Another unidentified vessel hit by a Drone IRGC forces hit a Saudi Tanker IRGC forces hit a Qatari LNG tanker * * * 'Four to Five Times Larger' Than Earlier Strikes US officials are vowing bigger, more sustained and prolonged

Spain: 70% Of Tested 'Unaccompanied Minor' Immigrants Are Actually Adults Via Remix News, The Spanish city of Madrid has delivered a stark confirmation of long-standing suspicions about unaccompanied foreign immigrants claiming to be minors. When this group undergoes rigorous medical age verification, 70 percent turn out to be adults over 18. This is not a handful of isolated incidents but a systemic pattern that has become the norm in Spain’s capital. The findings, detailed in official data and reported by Spanish outlet El Debate , underscore a growing “farce” in the handling of unaccompanied minor claims across the country. In

Trump Signals Willingness To Sell Turkey F-35 Jets Despite Loud Netanyahu Protests Israel and Turkey are in a bit of a tug-of-war with President Trump and potential major arms deals hanging in the balance. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vehemently complained to Trump in a Friday call about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's escalating anti-Israel rhetoric, officials cited in Axios said. Netanyahu specifically pressed Trump block sales of weapons systems to Turkey , especially those that would help Turkey modernize its air force. Of central issue remains potential F-35 transfer, which if carried through would outrage Israeli leaders. Turkey

Watch: MEP Forces EU To Address Wave Of Savage Migrant Attacks Throughout Europe Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , In a decisive move highlighting the growing crisis of migrant violence across Europe, Sweden Democrats MEP Charlie Weimers has successfully pushed the European Parliament to debate recent fatal attacks on native Europeans, and their direct implications for public security on the streets. Weimers' intervention comes in the immediate wake of the savage beating death of 32-year-old Swedish father Christian Zedig, ensuring the tragedy cannot be swept aside as just another "isolated incident" by those invested in open borders policies.

Rutte Touts 'Literally Billions' Invested To Drastically Ramp Up NATO's Drone Capabilities NATO leadership has this week made clear where it plans to invest a bulk of defense and tech-related funds in the coming years, while making express reference to lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine battlefield. The alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte said Tuesday that drone warfare is the next great expanse in NATO capabilities. He touted that member states are unveiling "major new projects" worth "literally billions of dollars" at the Ankara summit. "These are billions that are invested in our security, boosting our economies and supporting hundreds of

What Future Awaits Ukrainian Military-Aged Male Refugees In The EU? Authored by Andrew Korybko, Recent moves at the European and national levels bode ill for them... The European Commission proposed to exclude new military-aged Ukrainian men from the bloc’s special refugee protection scheme per Ukraine’s request to help replenish its lost forces. For background, new Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov shockingly revealed in January that 200,000 men have already deserted thus far and ten times more (2 million) are actively dodging the draft. Moreover, adult men comprise 26% of the 4.3 million Ukrainians in the EU for another one million

"F**k The USA": Professor Delights Chicago Crowd With Anti-American And Anti-Border Rant Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org , I have previously written about the " radical chic " in higher education of faculty members who espouse extremist views in departments purged of conservative, libertarian, or moderate voices. While it is virtually impossible to get departments to seriously consider a mainstream conservative or libertarian, schools like Princeton eagerly hire professors such as Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor , who recently delighted a Chicago audience with an unhinged rant against the United States and the concept of a nation-state. Bill Ayers and Princeton's Keeanga-Yamahtta

Bill Clinton Insider Warns Of Socialist Takeover, Calls For Probe Into Possible DSA Foreign Ties Mark Penn, the former chief White House pollster and strategic advisor to President Bill Clinton for six years, used a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled " The Socialist Threat Is Real " to warn that far-left radicals are hijacking the Democratic Party. The problem for Democrats is that years of letting socialists and Marxists into their DEI kingdom have only now produced dire consequences. Status quo Democrats are watching their power evaporate as Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates defeat mainstream Democrats in primaries across New

How Interceptor Missiles Work: The Technology Behind Stopping Missiles In Mid-Air Authored by Kaif Shaikh via Interesting Engineering , Intercepting a missile sounds straightforward. Launch another missile at it before it reaches its target. In reality, it is one of the most technically demanding challenges of defense. Here's how modern interceptor missiles protect against aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic threats. Getty Images Unlike offensive missiles, interceptor missiles must detect, track, calculate, and collide with a target that may be traveling several times the speed of sound, often within a matter of minutes. Some even destroy their targets without carrying an

Revolutionary War Cannons Hidden For 240 Years Go On Display A remarkable collection of Revolutionary War artifacts that lay hidden beneath the Savannah River for nearly 240 years is now on public display in Georgia's oldest city as the nation marks America's 250th anniversary, according to Fox News . The Savannah History Museum officially unveiled 19 cannons recovered from the river as part of its new Loyalists & Liberty: Savannah in the American Revolution exhibit. Historians say the discovery represents the largest cache of 18th-century artillery ever recovered from a single Revolutionary War naval event. Fox News wrote that the

Condomnation: WaPo Hits Platner With Fresh 'Sneaky Stealthing' Accusation Update: Just when you thought the media couldn't try harder to force Graham Platner out of the race for Senator from Maine, WaPo is out with a new one: that 'sneaky' oysterman was secretly shucking his condoms off during sex - or so an ex-girlfriend told the deep state's favorite paper of record. "He would pull condoms off," claims Lyndsey Fifield, who says she dated Platner from 2013-2015 in Washington DC - and previously accused him of physical abuse. " He would do it in a sneaky way. He wouldn’t tell

Elon Musk's Answer To Mortality Authored by David DeMay via AmericanThinker.com, Ask most Silicon Valley billionaires what they think about death, and you’ll get some version of a declaration of war. Peter Thiel has funded life-extension research for years and has spoken openly about wanting to “fight death.” Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and a growing circle of biotech-backed investors have likewise poured billions into companies pursuing not merely longer life, but the possibility of radically slowing or even ending human aging. Elon Musk - the wealthiest of them all and arguably the most publicly concerned with humanity’s long-term survival -

Activist is challenging ruling last year that restored colonial-era homophobic law against same-sex intimacy Some of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men. The country’s “ buggery law ”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act . In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones , challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled

Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup match Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence. The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate. Continue reading...

Impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US imposed a blockade in January Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, the state electricity company said. The impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US president, Donald Trump, imposed an oil blockade in January, which has depleted the already dwindling supply of fuel for Cuba’s power plants. Continue reading...

TKMS beats South Korean rival to multibillion-dollar contract that will deepen Canada’s Nato ties Canada has selected a German consortium to build a dozen cutting-edge submarines in one of the country’s largest-ever defence contracts that will further deepen its Nato ties before a crucial summit this week. On Monday the prime minister, Mark Carney, announced the winner of a tightly contested battle for the lucrative government contract to replace its fleet of ageing, secondhand subs, most of which are undergoing maintenance. Continue reading...

Arrival of endangered cats, including rare white cub, revitalises team straining under fuel and medicine shortages For the Cuban zookeeper Ángel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal ⁠tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages ⁠of fuel, medicine and ⁠days-long power outages. The ​birth of these endangered big cats – including an exceedingly rare white tiger – has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Telstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppage There is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt. Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate … Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping calls for ‘all out’ rescue effort as death toll rises and 16 people ⁠remain buried after a ⁠landslide in the country’s west The death toll from devastating storms in parts of China rose to 15 on Tuesday, with hundreds more injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported, as the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged “all out” efforts to rescue people affected by the weather. Thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed at least 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei, where “severe convective weather” hit cities, while tornadoes were reported elsewhere late

Solomon Islands prime minister says he doesn’t want to see more countries testing ICBMs in Pacific, adding ‘be our friend but don’t threaten us’ Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said China’s weapons test in the Pacific risks fuelling dangerous nuclear proliferation, with the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Monday capable of causing “considerable damage” if weaponised. International condemnation has grown overnight after China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that a “strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead” had been launched from a “strategic nuclear submarine of the navy”. Continue reading...

Tropical storm causes extreme flooding in south of the country with heavy rainfall expected in coming days A tropical storm has killed two people, caused dam breaches and forced tens of thousands to evacuate in southern China. Typhoon Maysak killed two people in Nanning, in China’s southern Guangxi province. Maysak, which lashed Vietnam and China’s southern island province of Hainan over the weekend, will dump the water it sucked up on its way ⁠across the South China Sea as it weakens and heads inland, meteorologists say. Continue reading...

Launch comes just hours after Australia and Fiji sign defence agreement as expert says timing not a coincidence China has conducted a long-range missile test in the South Pacific just hours after Australia signed a defence agreement with Fiji, sparking condemnation from Canberra and regional leaders. The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the missile test was “destabilising” to the region, while her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, described it as “deeply concerning”. Continue reading...

Those with high levels of vocational training, including tradespeople, are least exposed to AI displacement, according to government review Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Artificial intelligence has yet to cause widespread job losses but the federal government has warned that telemarketers, advertising staff and accountants are among the occupations “most exposed” to being replaced by the technology. According to a first-of-its-kind national report , people in the more exposed occupations are more likely to be women and have university qualifications. Continue reading...

Telco said outage was not due to a cyber-attack but warned of scammers calling people claiming to be from Telstra Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra has blamed a “software defect” that changed the time servers for a major outage in which thousands of mobile customers were unable to make calls or access data on the country’s largest network on Wednesday morning. The telco, which powers about 25m mobile services nationwide, confirmed the outage on Wednesday, with all services restored by 4pm AEST. Continue reading...

Kristy McBain criticises shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson for ‘testing’ Triple-zero system during major network blackout Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The communications minister, Anika Wells, has accused Barnaby Joyce and Angus Taylor of “going off half-cocked” by raising without evidence the prospect of China having been behind the major Telstra outage affecting millions of Australians nationwide. The federal emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, also criticised the shadow communications minister, Sarah Henderson, after the Liberal senator said she had “tested” the triple-zero system by

The man, who cannot be named, faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in Victoria’s county court. He has pleaded not guilty Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A high-profile Melbourne man was called a rapist and punched in the face by his former personal assistant shortly after he raped her at his home, a Victorian court has heard. But the man’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, told the rape trial on Wednesday that the alleged victim had “massive issues” in relation

The network disruption – which brought trains, traffic lights and Eftpos payments to a halt – raises questions about the resilience of services Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Wednesday’s national Telstra mobile outage serves as another stark reminder of how reliant on connectivity Australia now is, and how single points of failure can have widespread consequences across the country. The nearly five-hour outage – which brought train lines to a halt, affected traffic lights, stopped Eftpos payments and even prevented people being able to

US president says a ‘lot of progress’ has been made on ending war after meeting on sidelines of summit in Ankara Trump renews call for US to take over Greenland as he arrives for Nato summit And that ends their short briefing, with Trump saying he will be back later, and Rutte desperately throwing in that he will also do a press conference if anyone is interested in it please. Trump also heaps praise on Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , praising the Turkish military might, and, amusingly, out of nowhere praises China , too. Continue reading...

Hotel did not allow two Muslim women to wear the full-body bathing suit, which has become bugbear of European far right An Austrian court has found an Alpine hotel’s ban on burkinis discriminatory, a politically explosive ruling in a country where the far right is on the rise. The full-body bathing suit worn by some Muslim women has become a bugbear of the European far right, which has campaigned to restrict Muslim dress in public spaces. Continue reading...

As alliance gathers in Ankara, European leaders have an informal strategy to try to keep US president on side Europe live – latest updates Nato leaders have informally agreed not to mention the football World Cup to Donald Trump for fear of irritating the US president at a crucial time for the military alliance. Officials said European leaders had discussed in the sidelines of the summit in Ankara how to keep Trump on side amid concerns he could further destabilise Nato with threats over defence spending. Continue reading...

Far-right leader plans to take part in 2027 race despite appeal court upholding her conviction for embezzlement The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has launched her presidential campaign after a decision by a court of appeal shortened her ban on running for office, allowing her to take part in the 2027 vote. Le Pen said voters would decide her future. “I’m a citizen like anyone else, who is using their rights,” she said on Wednesday, attempting to brush aside legal woes that her political opponents said would plague her campaign for next spring’s presidential election. Continue reading...

Father of boy refused entry to pool says case is reminder that some Dutch do not acknowledge reality of racism When Henri Duiker went to check whether his 12-year-old son and his friend were enjoying their first “disco” swim evening alone, he was baffled. Instead of being in the water, Henri’s son was standing alone by the desk at the Watergeus pool, in Zoetermeer in the Netherlands. He did not have any ID to prove he was under 13 and pool attendants had told him he could not swim – although his friend of the same age and size had

Ceasefire appears close to unravelling after three commercial vessels are hit and two militaries target each other Middle East crisis live – latest updates Iran has accused the US of violating the agreement intended to end the war between the two countries and Donald Trump has said he thinks the ceasefire is over after Washington launched strikes around the strait of Hormuz and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Tehran to export oil. Speaking at the Nato summit in Turkey, Trump said: “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time … They’re a bunch of liars … They’re

July update projects GDP growth of 1% this year, making UK the third fastest-growing economy in the G7 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth forecast for the UK, while leaving those for other G7 countries weaker or unchanged, amid hopes the economic impact of the Iran war may be less severe than feared. In a July update of its World Economic Outlook, which was finalised before the latest outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East , the Washington-based organisation projected UK gross domestic product to grow by 1% this year – up 0.2 percentage points from its

Hostilities between US and Iran resume as US president lashes out at ‘vicious, violent people’. Plus the fallout from the USMNT’s exit from the Fifa World Cup Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. Hostilities have resumed between the US and Iran. Tehran accused the US of violating the agreement intended to end the war, after the US military launched strikes around the strait of Hormuz and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil exports. The attacks were the latest in a string of ceasefire violations by the two sides, despite a truce

President calls Iranian leadership ‘scum’, rails against alliance, repeats demand for Greenland and threatens Spain Middle East crisis live – latest updates Europe live – latest updates Donald Trump has declared that the ceasefire with Iran is over as he arrived at the Nato summit in Ankara, launching an angry broadside in which he complained about the military alliance and repeated his demand for Greenland. The US president, sitting alongside the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, called Iran’s leadership scum and “sick people”, and added that he was “very upset” with the alliance and even threatened to cut off all

US Central Command says Tehran in ‘clear violation’ of ceasefire with ‘unwarranted’ ​attacks on commercial ships Middle East crisis – latest updates The US military launched ⁠a ⁠series of “powerful” ​strikes against Iran, it announced on Tuesday night, in response to what ‌it said were “unwarranted, dangerous” Iranian ​attacks on three commercial vessels in the strait ​of ​Hormuz. In a statement on social media, US Central Command accused Tehran of a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement between US and Iran, which was signed last month. Continue reading...

Early flight data showed the K2 Airways plane with five crew on board possibly crashed into the sea ⁠southwest of Karachi A Pakistan-registered Boeing 737 cargo plane with five crew members on board lost contact with air traffic control on ⁠Tuesday night after reporting a navigational ⁠system problem on ​its way to Karachi, Pakistan aviation authorities said. Early flight data indicated the 27-year-old converted freighter operated by K2 Airways from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates possibly crashed into the sea ⁠southwest of Karachi after a series of sharp altitude changes, before a steep final descent, according to flight-tracking service

Thousands of women are killed in dowry disputes each year, despite the practice being banned in 1961 Dowry deaths in India no longer provoke the public anger they once did, despite thousands of women’s lives still being lost every year, according to new research. The killings – women who are murdered or driven to suicide following dowry disputes between families – have also faded from political debate, despite an increase in cases. Continue reading...

Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries rushed to hospital after fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs Clashes at a Sri Lankan jail have killed 26 people, including seven guards, and wounded more than 100 in the country’s deadliest prison riot in years, officials said. Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries were rushed to Negombo hospital, north of the capital Colombo after overnight fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs, police said on Monday. Continue reading...

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

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

Exclusive: Andrew Bailey says no policy changes were made as a result of pressure from crypto tycoon-backed Reform leader UK politics live – latest updates The governor of the Bank of England has broken his silence about the pressure Nigel Farage put on him to drop a cryptocurrency policy that could be costly for Reform UK’s billionaire backer, saying he is “able to spot” and resist lobbying. Andrew Bailey’s comments, in a letter seen by the Guardian, come as Farage’s decision not to disclose a £5m gift from the Thailand-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne has triggered the biggest crisis of

Nearly a quarter of market traders now hold master’s degree, PhD or medical doctorate, research shows One in five young market traders now holds a master’s degree, PhD or medical doctorate, according to exclusive figures shared with the Guardian, in a sign of how Britain’s markets are attracting an unexpected new generation of highly educated entrepreneurs. Separate data from Kerb, the street food collective behind some of London’s best-known food markets, points in the same direction. Almost three-quarters of its founders have university degrees, including one in four with postgraduate qualifications. About 95% work in their businesses full-time rather than

Chancellor set to ignore Ed Davey’s request to block Reform leader’s resignation until standards inquiry concludes For anyone involved in British politics, an invitation to be interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme is the ultimate badge of seriousness. There are probably hundreds of MPs who have never made it onto the programme because they have not been deemed important enough. But, as if to prove the point that the Clacton byelection really is a “farce” (see 7.59am ), this morning Today had an interview with Count Binface , the serial joke byelection candidate who may turn out to be Nigel

Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, 45, believed to have left UK for Zimbabwe before bodies of partner and children were discovered Police are hunting for a man after the deaths of his wife and two daughters in Bedfordshire. Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, known as Zandile, and Natalie, 15, and Nala, five, were found dead in a detached house in Great Denham, near Bedford, on Monday. Continue reading...

Ellis, 28, was executed in 1955 after fatally shooting her abusive partner David Blakely UK politics live – latest updates Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK, has been granted a conditional pardon in light of evidence that she was a victim of domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour. Ellis was executed in 1955, aged 28, after she shot and killed her partner, David Blakely, whom she met two years earlier while working in the nightclub she managed. Continue reading...

Vermont senator, who was a staunch ally of the Democratic candidate, called for Platner step down from race amid sexual assault allegations How could Democrats replace Graham Platner? Sign up for the Breaking News US email During a bilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Nato summit in Ankara, Donald Trump was asked about Iran, and he repeated his earlier criticism. On Wednesday, while speaking to reporters alongside Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, Trump said that memorandum of understanding signed last month by the US and Iran is “over”, in the wake of the latest strikes. Continue reading...

Meta said it was working with officials to be a ‘good neighbor’ and drinking water supplies were not affected Officials in Wyoming said a contractor for Mark Zuckerberg ’s tech company, Meta , flushed bacteria-contaminated water into public sewers during construction of a controversial new AI datacenter . The incident prompted water authorities in Cheyenne to implement strict safety regulations on how wastewater from such projects is disposed of, according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, which first reported the incident. Continue reading...

Mark Gatz was arrested at illegal campsite in June and had faced multiple citations for residing in Tonto national forest A man in Arizona has pleaded guilty to violating federal fire restrictions and unlawfully residing in a national forest, after authorities said he spent years living at a makeshift campsite surrounded by what officials described as “approximately 1,000 pounds of trash”. Mark Aaron Gatz was arrested on 25 June at his illegal campsite in Arizona’s Tonto national forest, according to court records. A United States Forest Service (USFS) officer wrote in documents submitted to court that Gatz had been operating

Daily realities of healthcare, prices and Gaza driving wave of anti-establishment sentiment among Democratic voters in closely watched contest In Macomb county, Michigan – a blue-collar Detroit suburb that twice voted for Barack Obama before backing each of Donald Trump’s three runs for the US presidency – residents are exhausted. Time and again, township trustee Shannon King, a Democrat still making up his mind, hears similar complaints. “You’re going backwards in your paycheck. You’re going backwards in your healthcare,” he said. “You go to work every day. You might have a side hustle. Your significant other has a side hustle,

Maine’s embattled US Senate nominee has faced calls to withdraw after a sexual assault allegation he denies Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, has been accused of trying to influence the process of picking his replacement amid a chorus of calls for him to withdraw from the race. Platner has publicly said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” after an allegation of sexual assault, which he denied, was published on Monday . Continue reading...

As another heatwave rolled across Europe, the warehouses emptied before the politics could catch up. Air conditioners and fans sold out across Spain, Italy and Germany, most of them Chinese. Fan sales in Spain alone on the retail platform of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post) nearly doubled last month while Midea Group’s air-conditioner sales in western Europe surged by over 70 per cent in the first six months of the year. A decade from now, such heatwaves may become...

British Columbia said on Tuesday it was preparing a lawsuit against OpenAI over the company’s failure to report violent ChatGPT activity by the person who committed a mass school shooting in the western Canadian province. OpenAI had banned an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025, months before the 18-year-old transgender woman killed eight people at her home and a school in the tiny mining town of Tumbler Ridge. Canadian families impacted by the February shooting have already...

Workers have started making emergency repairs to stabilise a Manhattan high-rise after buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations in and around the midtown construction site. The scene unfolded throughout Tuesday after the precarious conditions were spotted in the morning at the 1970s-era building, which is being converted into luxury flats. Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings – including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels – in the busy...

All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health programme. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 276-metre cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Slide”, injuring his wife and two young children. All four survived the January 2, 2023, crash in what one...

Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least seven people as Kyiv’s army said it had hit several Russian tankers, in fresh attacks just hours ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at a Nato summit. A first large blast in Kyiv was heard shortly after midnight even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded - a rare failure in the system that has spooked residents of the capital. That was followed by a barrage of several more explosions. One...

The US Federal Communications Commission ⁠said on Tuesday it is adding California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecoms firms and its ownership by a Chinese national. The FCC also said ‌it was denying the Los Angeles-based IT company permission to provide international telecommunications services, saying it could be exploited by Chinese threat actors. “There is significant risk that the government of China and...

The Iran battlefield might be quieter and diplomacy might have resumed, but the main contest has shifted to the architecture of the Middle East. The question is no longer whether Iran can be contained, the Strait of Hormuz can remain open or another round of escalation can be avoided. The larger issue is who will write the rules after the shock. Three tracks are taking shape. The first is led by the United States and built around the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the integration of Israel...

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the “ruthless” US embargo against the communist island during a UN General Assembly debate on Tuesday that took place despite diplomatic pressure by Washington to prevent it. “The government of the United States is carrying out against Cuba a multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare that has already lasted for almost seven decades now and has become ever more cruel and more ruthless during the last seven months,” Rodriguez told the body,...

Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the incumbent leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coalition’s candidate Senator Ivan Cepeda, alleging fraud without providing evidence. The conservative,...

At least five women have accused the archbishop of Rabat of sexual assault, according to an Agence France-Presse investigation, prompting the Spanish-born cleric to announce he was “stepping back” on Tuesday while the Vatican holds an inquiry. Agence France-Presse interviewed a retired woman involved in the Church and reviewed the written testimony of another woman who said Cristobal Lopez Romero had sexually assaulted them. The 74-year-old archbishop denied all wrongdoing when contacted by...

The US state of Utah has revoked the licence of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, saying the school has “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients”. The state’s action, which took effect on Monday, cites multiple non-compliance issues against Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville. The school has 15 days to request a hearing before the Department of Health & Human Services. The wide-ranging citations, which go back to...

A lawsuit claims the Trump administration is unlawfully giving confidential personal information to Iran about Iranians who applied for asylum to avoid “grave danger” in their native country. The US is sharing private data with the Iranian government about asylum applicants including pro-democracy protesters as well as members of religious minorities and the LGBTQ community, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Washington. Asylum seekers allegedly face deportation back to Iran, where the...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he will quit as a lawmaker and seek re-election to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars’ worth of donations. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions. Farage faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from...

Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat on Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic possibility the news came from legitimate sources. The ruling scuttles the lawsuits filed by Harry...

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ⁠announced on Tuesday that she ⁠will run for president in 2027 after an appeal ⁠court shortened her ban on holding public office. Le Pen’s presidential hopes had been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year electoral ban for using money from the European Parliament to pay wages for staff at her anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party in France. On Tuesday, the Paris appeal court upheld Le Pen’s conviction for misusing European ‌Parliament...

The European Commission has been clearly signalling its intention to wage a trade war against China. Brussels’ intent to counter the so-called China shock 2.0 – the wave of subsidised Chinese exports such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries – is no longer merely a verbal threat but appears to be an imminent decision. Comparing current trade tensions between the European Union and China with the trade conflict between Europe and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s reveals striking...

Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday said it found the body of Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska, who had been wanted by authorities in Monaco in connection with the bombing targeting Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev. The security service, also known by its local abbreviation SBU, said an officer serving in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing Berezovska with the help of a former law enforcement officer. He claimed he acted on his own initiative and...

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japan. Some of Japan’s most notable investments in India have been in the financial sector. Japanese...

Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France’s president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit, wounding at least 18 people, Syria’s Interior Ministry said. It was the second blast to rock the capital in a few days, and a setback for the country’s new president as he welcomed his first visit from a western leader since ousting long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad. Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with outbreaks of violence as they work to assert control, but the capital has been...

⁠Democratic Party leaders on Monday called on Graham Platner to withdraw as their nominee to run against Republican US Senator Susan Collins of Maine, after media reports that a woman accused him of forcibly having sex with her nearly five years ago. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement: “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the...

Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, causing mounting despair in the face of an energy collapse precipitated by a US fuel blockade. The communist island was already struggling to keep the lights on before US President Donald Trump in January cut off its oil supplies, depleting the dwindling supply of fuel for its power plants. Union Electrica (UNE), the state electricity company, announced a “total disconnection” to the entire island at midday,...

Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group. Hong Kong and London rounded out the top five. Zurich’s three-place rise was propelled by the strengthening of the Swiss...

A third tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Tuesday, after Qatar blamed Iran for an attack on one of its ships. “UKMTO has received a report of a further incident involving a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker was struck by an unknown Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and has sustained minor structural damage. No casualties or environmental impact reported,” it said in a post on social media. An “unknown...

The Furious, Hong Kong’s latest action flick, is crushing it on Rotten Tomatoes and has garnered critical acclaim abroad – proof of what human-centric filmmaking can still deliver in today’s market. But before we rush to hail the return of Hong Kong cinema, a new breed of drama factory is quietly generating content at a velocity no human team could ever match. In mainland China, micro dramas generated by artificial intelligence (AI) have turned the industry upside down. A production schedule...

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military said on Monday that it identified...

Norway wants China to use its ⁠ties to the Russian ⁠leadership to help bring about ⁠a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, also for the sake of better relations with Europe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday. “China is probably the country with the ‌best and most direct access to the Russian leadership. We expect, hope and strongly urge China to use that channel,” he told reporters after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Oslo. The biggest chunk of their...

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. In this article, Sylvia Ma examines the numerous financial links between the two economies that make a true decoupling a difficult affair. On a landmark visit to Beijing in 1986, the New York Stock Exchange chairman at the time, John...

In a closely watched outcome, Canada on Monday chose a major German defence contractor over its South Korean competitor to build a US multibillion-dollar fleet of submarines, as mid-tier nations increasingly work together in the face of a less reliable United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa chose Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ (TKMS) package over Hanwha Ocean Company’s. The move was expected to strengthen ties between Canada and Nato, which is holding a two-day summit...

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers. Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to US$6...

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria’s new authorities took power. President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been rebooting Syria’s international credentials and seeking to revive his struggling country after toppling long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. “I have come to reaffirm France’s commitment to the Syrian people. To a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours,”...

With the integrity of Fifa and the World Cup under attack from European football leaders, Fifa President Gianni Infantino acknowledged taking a call from US President Donald Trump before US forward Folarin Balogun was cleared to play against Belgium later on Monday. Balogun was issued a red card in the US match against Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, resulting in a suspension for the Belgium contest. Trump called Infantino after the match with Bosnia to plead his case to overturn the call and Fifa...

Nato cannot be “naive” about China’s military development, as the Indo-Pacific and European theatres are becoming “more intertwined”, evident in Beijing’s support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Nato’s secretary general has said. During a pre-summit press conference on Monday, a day before the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte responded to questions about a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine firing a test missile into the Pacific. Rutte said that Nato...

Prince Harry arrived in Britain on Monday for a five-day visit expected to go ahead mostly without his wife and children after they were reportedly refused police protection. Harry’s visit has been hit by several snags as plans for his family to accompany him fell through, his accommodation at Buckingham Palace was in disarray and a judgment in his latest legal battle against British tabloids loomed. The visit, to mark the one-year countdown to next year’s Invictus Games for wounded veterans,...

Comcast’s Sky has agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of Britain’s ITV for £1.6 billion (US$2.13 billion), creating a British champion to compete with global players YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Disney. Sky CEO Dana Strong said the deal, announced on Monday and confirming a Reuters story, was a “defining moment” in British broadcasting. The combination of Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, home of the soap opera Coronation Street, and subscription...

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Monday the dissolution of the body that has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, clearing the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian rule. The move marks a significant political shift by Hamas, which has run Gaza since its fighters seized control from rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 after winning legislative elections the previous year. Since a ceasefire took effect in Gaza last October between Hamas and Israel, the group...

For much of the post-Cold-War era, the European Union understood economic interdependence as a source of mutual prosperity. Open markets, free trade and multilateral rules were regarded not merely as economic principles but as the foundations of European normative influence. That assumption is rapidly giving way to a different logic. In an era of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, Brussels increasingly views trade, investment and technology as the power instruments of strategic competition. The...

Vast crowds gathered for the funeral procession of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday, with authorities estimating millions were on the streets in numbers that could rival those of his predecessor’s farewell nearly four decades ago. Authorities have yet to give an official turnout figure but huge numbers stretched along major boulevards in the Iranian capital. The ceremonies offer Iran an opportunity to project resilience after war with the United States and Israel,...

Hernan Gil was working his shift as a security guard in the basement of a building in Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24 when he felt the earth shake. The first tremor was short, Gil recounted in an interview from the hospital room where he was recovering after being rescued from the depths of a collapsed building. Gil became a symbol of hope for Venezuela after he survived eight days of being buried alive by the double earthquake that devastated the north of the Caribbean country, leaving...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Noted neurobiologist and ex-taekwondo captain Chih-Ying Su leaves US for China Celebrated neurobiologist Chih-Ying Su, who specialises in research on the sense of smell using fruit flies and mosquitoes, has left her position as faculty vice-chair at the University of California San Diego to join...

Russia hammered Kyiv with missiles and drones early on Monday, killing at least 20 people, officials said, as shortages of US-made interceptors left the Ukrainian capital struggling to defend itself, just days after the deadliest attack this year. The heavy overnight bombardment came ahead of a ‌Nato summit in Turkey this week, where US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a renewed push to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in...

If one word could capture the essence of Hong Kong, it would be resilience. Just two years ago, much of the international community had written off Hong Kong. A widely circulated newspaper commentary carried the headline: “It pains me to say Hong Kong is over”. Though the writer later changed his opinion, the piece captured the pessimism about the city’s future as a global hub. Hong Kong’s dramatic comeback is well documented. According to Boston Consulting Group, the city has overtaken...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had “asked to be annexed to Israel” so that they could be protected from Hezbollah militants. Lebanon was drawn into the wider war in the Middle East on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops now occupy...

Venezuela’s interim president said on Sunday the country would not descend into social unrest after the twin earthquakes which killed more than 3,300 people and left thousands more missing. One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, the June 24 shocks collapsed scores of buildings, leaving thousands homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas. “There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity,” Delcy Rodriguez said...

It’s unfortunate for Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu that his speech on July 1 marking the 29th anniversary of the handover and highlighting his government’s achievements may have been overshadowed by the outcry over an anti-drug video – or at least what was intended as one. The Correctional Services Department released the video, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), on June 26 before having to pull it twice, ahead of the anniversary. The video – featuring an appealing K-pop...

Burglars stole millions of euros’ worth of jewellery from the museum of French luxury glassmaker Lalique in a daring early-morning raid on Sunday, just months after a stunning gem robbery at the Louvre in Paris. A gang of masked thieves broke into the museum in Wingen-sur-Moder in northeastern France at around 5.30am local time, forcing a door before heading for the jewellery room and smashing open six display cases, a source close to the investigation told Agence France-Presse. “Around 20...

Charles Dingman, chair of the Maine Democratic Party and a progressive, would play a key role in choosing the state’s Democratic Senate candidate if Graham Platner leaves the race.

Mr. Platner has not yet withdrawn from the race after a rape allegation, but Democrats in the state and nationally are already exploring potential alternatives.

The human microbiome is essential to our health, but scientists have only begun to understand why. Two researchers set out to map this largely uncharted terrain.

A former military base in the Adriatic Sea, the island is in a beautiful setting but it is strewed with snakes, crumbling buildings and land mines.

UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health and Cigna are suing states over new laws targeting their pharmacy businesses.

Millions of Iranians descended on Tehran to pay their respects to the slain supreme leader.

In the cities of Najaf and Karbala, home to two of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, hundreds of thousands attended commemorations for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who extended Iran’s influence in Iraq.

Under investigation over an undisclosed gift, the right-wing leader Nigel Farage may end up in a special election against a candidate dressed as a trash can.

For months, Jordan Bardella was set to be the French far-right’s candidate for the presidency — until his mentor, Marine Le Pen, nudged him aside this week. Their relationship could define the campaign.

Researchers have been surprised by the study findings.

Doctors described treating brain and abdominal hemorrhages in infants who hadn’t received the routine injection. Several said the images of those patients were seared in their minds.

Many historians have recently seen it as a tame, even disappointing affair. But in the Trump era, the old question of its radicalism is taking on a fresh charge.

Behind closed doors, millions of Americans are stepping into one of the hardest roles they’ll ever take on: caring for their aging parents.

For women, they’re a depressingly rational choice.

We have the latest on renewed strikes in the Middle East.

President Trump may not have known what a red card in soccer is, Ronny Chieng said: “But you know what he did know? How to get a guy a pardon.”

A violent militia that controls large swaths of Congolese territory in the east may use the virus to try to bolster its authority.