Minimalist News

US Sending Fresh Carrier To Relieve Over-Extended USS Lincoln Amid Reports Of Sailor Burn-Out Below we've detailed the immense strain placed on the long-deployed USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, which has been the main floating naval hub of operations amid the Iran war. The past weeks have seen growing US media coverage of the immense strain placed on the some 5000-member crew , and given the typical port calls have been nearly absent for the extended deployment and operation. But on Thursday the Wall Street Journal is reporting than an urgent relief operation is in the works, as the USS George

Babylon Bee Sues New Mexico Over Restrictions On AI Satirical Posts Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times , The Babylon Bee, a satirical online publication, is suing the state of New Mexico over a law that bans artificial intelligence-created misrepresentation of political figures and issues, including satire and parody , in the months leading up to an election. (L-R) Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition talks with Seth Dillon, CEO, of the Babylon Bee and Kyle Mann, editor and chief, at the annual "Road To Majority Policy Conference" held by the Faith & Freedom

US Creates New 'Multinational' Attack Drone Task Force Amid Iran War & Lessons Learned In Ukraine Compared to what Ukraine and Russia are learning in the context of their grinding years-long war, the Pentagon is a bit late in putting together comprehensive drone swarm battle plans and tactics, but it seems to be the clear direction of future conflict spaces. On Thursday US Central Command unveiled that it is officially establishing America's first-ever multi-domain, multinational attack drone task force . An announcement identified the initiative as Force Falcon Strike, which "will employ one-way attack drones consisting of unmanned systems from

State Department Launches Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times , The Department of State on Wednesday announced the existence of a task force that has already revoked hundreds of visas from foreign nationals accused of exploiting U.S. immigration laws. Migrants, including a pregnant Haitian woman seeking to give birth in the United States, are apprehended by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Ariz., on Dec. 7, 2021. John Moore/Getty Images The announcement of the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force comes as President Donald Trump issued new orders in response to a June

The "Big Tent" Dilemma: Marxist Hasan Piker Pleads With Democrats For Help, But Will They Answer Senior Democratic leaders appear to have converged on a common messaging strategy as Republicans intensify an information operation portraying the party as hijacked by socialists and Marxists. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Abigail Spanberger and others have repeatedly described the Democratic Party as a "big tent" when questioned about the rise of far-left candidates and activists who openly advocate dismantling capitalism and pursuing revolutionary change. The near-scripted consistency of the comments centers on what party strategists likely view as the safest defense and

India Eyes Two New Sites To Expand Strategic Oil Reserves By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com State-controlled Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) is finalizing feasibility studies for two new strategic petroleum reserves facilities as the world’s third-largest crude oil importer looks to boost its energy security. ISPRL, a government-owned special purpose vehicle, is finalizing a feasibility study for a facility at Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India and has completed a pre-feasibility study for a cavern in Bina in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Indian media reported on Thursday. These two new facilities planned to host

Outrage As Texas Schools Bus Kids To Mosque So They Can "Experience Islam" Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Outrage has exploded as public school students in Texas were loaded onto yellow school buses and driven straight to an Islamic center so they could experience Islam 'up close'. The organizers could barely contain their excitement. In their own promotional video, they celebrated how the kids showed up and potentially left transformed. This is not happening in some blue-state sanctuary city. This is Texas. ? OMG. Terrifying development as taxpayer funded public school students in Texas are bussed to

11 Charged In Immigration Scheme Involving Over 1,000 Sham Marriages Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times, The Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 11 people with allegedly helping foreign nationals, primarily Chinese nationals, to obtain green cards through a marriage fraud scheme, according to an indictment unsealed on Aug. 12. The people behind the alleged scheme were all naturalized U.S. citizens originally from China and one green card holder, according to Attorney General Todd Blanche. The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, and conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens

Putin's First Ever Visit To Japanese-Claimed Islands Provokes Outrage In Tokyo Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made a provocative visit to the far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time ever. Japan immediately lodged a "strong" protest given it also has long claimed the territory, resulting in an avalanche of denunciatory headlines in Japanese press. Putin held a meeting there "on ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders," state RIA Novosti said. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi shot back : "The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory both historically and under international law, and the government of

Violent Crime Rate Drops In Major US Cities Authored by Timothy Frudd via The Epoch Times, A new report shows that violent crime dropped in many of the United States’ largest cities during the first half of 2026, and there was a more than 17 percent decline in the number of homicides. A Major Cities Chiefs Association survey, which gathered data from 66 of the largest cities in the United States, was released on Aug. 5. It showed that levels of multiple categories of violent crime decreased from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2026, compared with the same period in

"No Rock Left Unturned": Tether Completes Independent Audit Of Reserves With KPMG Stablecoin giant Tether has announced that KPMG U.S. completed the first independent audit of its reserves after years of struggling to get a Big Four accounting firm to do so. The San Salvador-based company, which issues the largest stablecoin in existence, USDT, said the audit was “the largest inaugural financial audit in history.” Tether Completes the Largest Inaugural Financial Audit in History Read more: https://t.co/vWG0fFSUxH — Tether (@tether) August 13, 2026 As Bitcoin Magazine's Mathew DiSalvo reports , Tether for years was criticized for being coy about its

News Groups Sue Trump Over Paid Early Access To Truth Social Posts Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump was sued on Wednesday by two news organizations seeking to shut down a service that sells paid access to the president's posts on his Truth Social platform. This illustrative photo shows a person checking the app store on a smartphone for Truth Social, with it's website on a computer screen in the background, in Los Angeles on Oct. 20, 2021. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 12 in Manhattan federal court by

Anthropic's $2 Trillion Bet Is That Nothing Goes Wrong The most revealing aspect of a $2 trillion Anthropic IPO is not the staggering valuation, but the suspension of disbelief required to justify it. To buy into that number, investors must assume that artificial intelligence is becoming economically indispensable at breakneck speed, that a formidable moat will protect a handful of frontier-model developers, and that the exorbitant costs of computing infrastructure will not eventually crush their margins. More crucially - they must wager that the political, technical, and institutional risks inherent to an increasingly geopolitically competitive landscape will play second fiddle

The 'Burrito' Debate: What's It Really About... Authored by JD Breen via Pretium Insights, Two years ago, “conservative” pundits rightly ridiculed the Biden Administration for suggesting inflation was fine while blaming its poor approval ratings on Americans’ ignorance of how little they were spending. Now, under the Trump Administration, the same “influencers” mock young people for noticing how much things cost. Last week a “burrito debate” erupted when a college student said burritos shouldn’t cost twenty bucks. One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: “A burrito shouldn’t cost $20.” Yeah, a lot of this is

Inside Utah's Trans-Marxist Militia: From Cuba Revolutionary Trips And Rifle Training To Declaring War On Landlords via Miah Blackwell of The Cougar Chronicle , Over the last few years, individuals and groups tied to violent and extremist LGBTQ activism have been emerging in the heart of Utah. In May, we exposed how extremist students and clubs at UVU have been responsible for vandalism, violent threats and rhetoric, and even justifying the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Some even left the words “ bella ciao ” on the sidewalk during left-wing protests. In September 2025, the FBI opened an investigation into Armed

Doug Casey On The End Of Honest Markets Via InternationalMan.com, International Man: Markets are supposed to reflect economic reality. But when central banks suppress interest rates, governments debase currencies, and major powers manipulate oil prices for political purposes, can any market still be considered honest? Doug Casey: Almost all markets are distorted in some way by government intervention. Interest rates are the price of money itself. They’re the blood of an economy; when they’re manipulated, it amounts to blood poisoning. Currencies have become nothing more than floating abstractions. They move up and down by government fiat. The same is true

Workday Soars Most On Record As Silver Lake Weighs $43 Billion Buyout Workday shares jumped the most on record during late-afternoon trading on Thursday after a Reuters report said Silver Lake was in discussions to acquire the human-resources and financial-management software company. According to the report, the deal would value Workday at $43 billion and rank among the largest software buyouts in history . Here's more from the report: Silver Lake and the human-resources and financial management software company have held discussions about a potential deal in recent months, the people said. The talks are ongoing and there is no

"Unofficial" FBI Group Swept Up Journalists, Politicians As Russian Disinfo "Conduits" For Probing Biden-Ukraine Dealings An FBI analytical group that reviewed confidential-source reporting about Biden family corruption in Ukraine was "unofficially formed" inside the bureau's Foreign Influence Task Force in late 2019 and did not corroborate the allegations it was assigned to assess before labeling the reporting as Russian disinformation, according to newly declassified records. The records [Direct download link] provide a more detailed picture of an effort known as Round River , a component of a broader intelligence project called DELTA , that operated in the run-up to and

The University Of Michigan Is Now Hiding Grades From Fragile Freshmen Authored by Andrea Widburg via AmericanTinker.com, In 2017, Macalester College, a pricey Midwestern college, ran an article in its glossy “Macalester Today” magazine titled “ The Dog Is In .” Indeed, that was the cover story. In the article, Macalester boasted about having multiple therapy dogs roaming the campus to help students deal with homework stress —students who, as best as I could tell, had about 12 hours a week of class time, plus homework. I was not impressed. Little did I know, though, that worse was to come.

Araghchi Mocks 'Fake Intelligence' Amid Skepticism Over Iranian Plot Against Trump In Turkey US mainstream media has this week been dominated by claims that an Iranian assassination threat prompted President Donald Trump to secretly switch planes while flying out of Turkey last month, with Air Force One serving as a decoy while he flew out on a smaller military aircraft. The details of the 'escape' from alleged danger are wild , and continue to be subject of widespread scrutiny and questioning, given the American president was actually covertly transferred into a catering container, which then ferried him to a small

Ángel Aguirre indicted in case that rocked Mexico and became symbol of its brutal cartel violence The former governor of Guerrero state in Mexico has been formally charged over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, a case that has become a symbol of the country’s brutal cartel violence and government impunity. Ángel Aguirre, who was arrested last week , is accused of forced disappearance and obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of surveillance tapes that may have shed light on what happened to the students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college on the night

Female staff alleged company failed to maintain safe workplace, after allegations of sexual assault against pilot The Canadian airline WestJet has agreed to pay C$4.5m (£2.4m) to settle a decade-long sexual harassment class action lawsuit levelled by its female flight attendants, who alleged the company failed to maintain a safe workplace. The suit followed allegations by Mandalena Lewis, a former flight attendant, that a pilot had sexually assaulted her and a colleague, but that WestJet kept the pilot flying, thereby putting other employees at risk. Continue reading...

Flight from Victoria to Toronto forced to return to terminal after repeated attempts to secure child in seat failed A Canadian airline cancelled a flight from Victoria to Toronto after a child refused to wear a seatbelt. The child was standing in their chair as the 6 August Porter Airlines flight taxied towards the runway, the airline said. Repeated attempts by an accompanying parent and crew to secure the child in their seat failed, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the two passengers disembark as “the aircraft could not take off in this unsafe condition”,

Quake of 7.4 magnitude collapses and severely damages buildings in several major cities, including Cali and Pereira More than 100 people died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira. The US and Colombian geological surveys reported that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 7.34am local time on Monday, with its epicentre in the western department of Chocó. It was felt in neighbouring Venezuela, still reeling from a deadly double earthquake on 24 June. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – a full report is here People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, ​after more than two dozen structures ‌collapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. ‌ He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams ‌to support rescue efforts. Continue reading...

Evacuation orders issued for 400,000 as torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture as flooding risks remain high despite rainfall easing At least four people died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport, and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings. The torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday night, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. Evacuation orders were issued for more than 400,000 people in Chiba and other areas, and about 45,000 homes lost power, as 115mm of rain fell hourly, approximately the same amount usually recorded for

Blaze fuelled by hot, dry and windy conditions comes within metres of West Kalimantan rehabilitation centre Orangutans rescued from wildlife traffickers face a new threat from the record number of fires that have broken out in Indonesia in recent weeks. Flames have come within metres of an animal rehabilitation centre in West Kalimantan as hot, dry and windy conditions have been amplified by a powerful El Niño and the human-driven climate crisis. Continue reading...

Japanese PM says islands seized by Soviets late in second world war are part of her country under international law The Japanese government has reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow. Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, summoned the Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev, while the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called Putin’s actions “absolutely unacceptable”. Continue reading...

Incheon airport had 38.39m international passengers in first half of 2026, as traffic diverted from Middle East hubs South Korea’s Incheon airport has become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, in part owing to disruption in the Middle East caused by the Iran war. The airport, South Korea’s main gateway, about 30 miles (48km) west of Seoul, handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade body for airports. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul calls for tighter gun controls and ‘decisive penalties’ after nine dead in school shooting Thailand has suspended firearms licences after the deadly Nonthaburi school shooting , as the bodies of the teenage attacker and the grandparents he killed were cremated. The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said he had ordered the interior ministry and police to stop issuing licences to possess, purchase and carry firearms, and called for “tighter controls and decisive penalties”. The measures are temporary until a new gun control law is in place, according to government operated news-channel NBT World. Continue reading...

Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Albanese says gambling inducements are ‘over the top’ Albanese said gambling inducements are “over the top and need to be wound back”. Look, we’re working constructively across the parliament to put in place these reforms. They are important. The problem is addiction and when someone has an addiction, if there are inducements that are encouraging that addiction, that’s a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with people having a punt on a Saturday … the problem is if it’s an addiction. We agreed it was

Former 2GB and 2UE radio broadcaster is facing 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. Jones, 85, 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 young driver for Alan Jones felt “violated” and “trapped” when the broadcaster allegedly touched him on the penis in the car and kissed him in a lift, but didn’t complain due to the “extraordinary” power dynamic between the pair, a Sydney court has been told. Complainant C, now aged in his 40s, on Friday told Jones’s indecent

Interim report calls for carve-up deal that has only benefited Western Australia to be ‘reshaped’ as it has achieved almost none of its objectives Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Productivity Commission (PC) has criticised the controversial GST deal with Western Australia as a costly mistake that should be reversed, saying tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money has since gone to the country’s richest state. An interim report from a PC review of the deal said the reform – requested by WA

Airservices boss says planes remained 1km apart so runway incursion ‘didn’t meet mandatory reporting requirements’ but safety bureau is ‘concerned’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The organisation that manages Australian skies has defended its decision not to immediately report a fresh safety incident at Sydney airport when a Virgin plane aborted its takeoff. The chief executive of the commonwealth-owned Airservices Australia, Rob Sharp, said he did not believe the incident met the reporting threshold, given the substantial distance between the Virgin plane and a

Shizuoka Crown melons are part of an important cultural gifting practice in Japan, where they are hand-patted by growers to achieve an even shape and texture The melons at the centre of a national imbroglio involving the Australian prime minister have the sweetness of a watermelon, the snap of a honeydew and the perfume of a peach, according to fruit sellers. Anthony Albanese maintains he has nothing to apologise for, after a joke he made regarding a gift he received from Japan’s prime minister. Continue reading...

Joyce Thomas faces being forced to leave country after losing appeal against deportation British widow, 78, told to leave Sweden under Brexit rules The 78-year-old British widow threatened with removal from Sweden after 21 years has said she has been left feeling sick with worry after being told she had lost an appeal against deportation in a ongoing row over the country’s handling of Brexit. “I am in shock. I feel sick. An individual’s life is at stake at my age. It is hell. I have done nothing wrong. I don’t take anything from this country. I am self sufficient,

Cernavoda shutdown poses immediate problems for Moldova, which relies on Romanian power ​to cover its own electricity shortages Romania has been forced to shut down the last working ⁠reactor at its only nuclear plant after drought caused the Danube river to fall to record lows – a rare move that will immediately affect power supplies in neighbouring Moldova. Drought and record-low water levels have deepened fears of an energy crisis across Europe , which is facing a new summer heatwave. Continue reading...

Donald Tusk says it is first time ‘someone on the order of Russia’ has sought to attack US citizen in Nato country A Russian plan to kill a Ukrainian American citizen in Warsaw was thwarted by Poland before it could be carried out, the Polish prime minister has said. Donald Tusk said it was the first time that “someone on the order of Russia” had sought to attack a US citizen on the territory of another Nato country. Continue reading...

A former UK government scientific adviser warned amid the ‘shattering’ heat that worse is still to come Met Office has just offered an update on temperatures across the UK, with several stations already reporting temperatures above 30C – and it’s not even 11am. It’s 30.4C in Wych Cross, 30.3C in Charlwood, 30.2C at Kenly Airfield. Continue reading...

Figures emerge in critical letter to Home Office from organisation appointed to scrutinise detention facilities Nearly 100 children have been wrongly identified and detained as adults under Shabana Mahmood’s “one in, one out” deal with France, the Guardian can disclose. Home Office staff said that of 304 age-disputed cases arising from the scheme over nine months, 94 (31%) – were ultimately found to be minors. Children are supposed to be excluded from the scheme, while government policy limits immigration detention of unaccompanied children to 24 hours. Had been awaiting deportation for more than six months, despite being supposed be held

Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians Israeli troops have forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out. Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thursday, telling the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi, that the buildings were needed for a days-long operation to remove the settlers. They later relinquished six. Settlers still roam the village. Continue reading...

Settlers and soldiers cut off water and electricity to homes, and block medical care in campaign of terror Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. A group of settlers and soldiers set up a tent outside the home of Yousef Hassan’s family on Sunday afternoon, trapping him inside with his wife and two young daughters. Continue reading...

Emergency services, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing. Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment. Continue reading...

Lawsuit challenges executive order targeting international criminal court for investigating Israeli crimes in Palestine Four prominent US human rights organizations have accused the Trump administration of using its “crippling” sanctions regime against the international criminal court (ICC) to undermine global efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, the groups – the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute – argued that the administration’s targeting of the ICC, as well as of groups and individuals affiliated with it or assisting

Verdict relates to atrocities committed during the country’s 14-year civil war in which about 500,000 people died A Syrian court has sentenced the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war, in which about half a million people died. The two men fled to Moscow after being ousted by a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 which toppled the dictatorial regime in just 11 days . Continue reading...

Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021. Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Continue reading...

The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 years On 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought extinct, with the last reliable sighting in the country recorded more than 70 years

Demonstrators accuse authorities of failing to tackle irregularities in exams for sought-after civil service jobs Thousands of angry young job-seekers clashed with police in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states, on Monday as a weeks-long protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment drives for coveted government jobs escalated into a march on the state legislature. Police fired water cannon and teargas and swung batons as they tried to stop flag-waving demonstrators from clambering over barricades and surging towards the assembly in Ranchi, the state capital. Some of the protesters responded by dancing and cheering as jets of water drenched the crowd.

Mohammad Akhtar, 50, from Peterborough killed during clashes between authorities and protesters A British national was shot dead in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during clashes between security forces and protesters, the Guardian can reveal. Another Briton has been held in a regional prison for more than two months despite his family’s efforts to secure his release through the Foreign Office. Continue reading...

Dhaka accuses India of giving platform to a ‘convicted genocider’ by allowing Sheikh Hasina to address journalists Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low. Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader says result ‘speaks for itself’, as Essex police deny that the warned him not to attend byelection count Farage wins Clacton byelection in contest boycotted by every other major party This election is a novelty with a record 34 candidates, including Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Marcus White from the Everyone is God Party. They have pounded the streets of Clacton over the past few weeks as they seek to win the support of about 80,000 voters. Continue reading...

Second world war paintings and sketches show novelist ‘engaging with her world in a new light’ For decades, they lay in a secret room in her attic gathering dust. Now, newly discovered artworks by the Booker prize-winning author Iris Murdoch – including the only self-portrait she is known to have painted, four surrealist landscape paintings and three sketches of female nudes – will go on display for the first time on Friday. The artworks were created at the start of the second world war when Murdoch was a student at Oxford. They expose her early interest in surrealism and fascination

Reform UK leader does not appear for the result, despite beating nearest challenger, Count Binface, in byelection he caused amid deepening scandal over £5m gift Clacton byelection – UK politics live Nigel Farage has seen off Count Binface to win the Clacton byelection in a contest boycotted by every other major political party. The Reform UK leader in July triggered the byelection in an attempt to shake off a deepening scandal over a £5m gift he received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Continue reading...

Most owners would consider installing aircon as heatwaves lead buyers to focus on ability to stay cool, Rightmove says Searches for homes for sale in the UK with air conditioning have more than doubled this summer as heatwaves push staying cool up the list of priorities for homebuyers, alongside nearness to good schools and transport links. In the week of the UK’s fifth heatwave, in which temperatures in parts of England hit 38C , the property website Rightmove said the heat was influencing how Britons thought about their homes, with more people paying attention to how comfortable a property would

Extreme heat is harming the wellbeing of the ordinary people the PM champions, yet he has ignored the subject From the first day Andy Burnham came into office, climate scientists, campaigners and some of the ordinary people surviving through this summer of extreme heat began to wonder when he would start to talk about the climate crisis. Up until this week, many held back from criticism. After all, he had only been in power for a couple weeks; it felt far too early to start to judge and call him out on it. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them. The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule made earlier this year by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime

Rare scheduling in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama underlines the renewed appetite in US for state killings Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was put to death by the state of Oklahoma, in the first of three executions scheduled for Thursday in a rare triple procedure that underlines the renewed appetite in the US for state killings. Just one hour later, Darrell Hines was put to death by the state of Tennessee, and at 6pm local time in Alabama, that state executed Jeremy Williams. Continue reading...

DHS sent undercover agents to meetings and infiltrated chats of groups opposing Trump’s immigration crackdown Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups. Continue reading...

District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT. Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges. Continue reading...

CEO announces steps after reports that system is used to target immigrants or people seeking out-of-state abortions For nearly a decade, the company Flock Safety has gradually built out a network of cameras across the US that allows law enforcement officials to conduct about 20bn license plate scans every month. In that time, the company had largely left the decision to turn on safety measures up to its customers. Many of those organizations did not turn them on. Continue reading...

Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty on Friday to resolve federal charges relating to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson, and prosecutors will recommend he serve life in prison, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The plea would come at a Friday hearing that US District Judge Margaret Garnett set after federal prosecutors and defence lawyers jointly requested one. Court records did not identify the purpose of the hearing, and it is possible...

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Mecca defence agreement, they executed a structural overhaul of the Middle East’s security architecture. The pact codifies a defence commitment, where an armed attack on one is treated as an assault on all. Building upon September’s Saudi-Pakistan defence agreement, this tripartite arrangement bridges the financial capital of the Gulf, the...

⁠Bird remains were found ⁠in the engine of a Ryanair Boeing 737 NG plane where a passenger was partially sucked through a broken window shortly after take-off from Greece in July, the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. The NTSB ‌is investigating the incident where a piece of the engine broke off the plane and smashed the window. The plane, headed to Germany, lost pressure and was forced to make an emergency landing. The NTSB said in its preliminary report into the July 10...

The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading towards the Middle East, according to Navy statements and open source information on the ship’s movements. This comes as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose long deployment to the Middle East in support of the Iran war includes a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. The USS George Washington left port in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week,...

The Kennedy Centre board voted on Thursday to add US President Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the performing arts venue and move forward with a two-year closure, according to congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a trustee through her position in Congress, and her lawyers. A representative for the Kennedy Centre did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The moves set up a test of US District Judge Christopher Cooper, who ruled in May that letters affixed to the building and spelling out...

A passenger train derailed on Thursday in southern England, seriously injuring two people and causing minor injuries for nine others after three carriages overturned, the British Transport Police said. The Southern Rail train from Victoria station in London to Eastbourne was carrying about 150 people when it went off the tracks outside the tourist town of Lewes. Passenger Rob Bradley said the train began rocking as it picked up speed and the carriage he was riding in with his six-year-old...

A professor managed US funding of computer science research for more than two years while failing to disclose that he was simultaneously involved in Chinese government programmes, according to previously unreported documents. The professor, Tao Li, was a programme officer at the National Science Foundation from 2015 to 2017, a job that included overseeing the awarding of grants for research in areas such as hardware, software and algorithms. During that time, Li took part in two Chinese talent...

Poland has ⁠arrested a ⁠Russian man who was ⁠hired by Moscow to kill a Ukrainian-American citizen in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday. The Russian was detained on August ‌7 and had been recruited to kill a man who was “inconvenient to the Putin regime”, Tusk told journalists. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Moscow has regularly ⁠dismissed accusations by European powers of attacks, saying the West ‌is stoking...

A blast at a ⁠storage facility for petroleum products at the Netherlands’ Rotterdam port killed one person and wounded six others on Thursday, officials said, as police investigated the cause of the explosion. A spokesperson for major energy commodities trading company Gunvor said an “incident” occurred during maintenance work on a storage tank. A police spokesperson said that there was no immediate ⁠sign of sabotage and that all possible scenarios were under ‌investigation. Rotterdam is...

German police said on Thursday that a suspicious object found on rail tracks in a Bavarian ‌town did not contain explosives, as initially feared. Earlier on Thursday, buildings near the object were evacuated in the town of Treuchtlingen for the item to ⁠be moved safely by a robot. Experts had earlier taken ‌X-ray images of the object that was found in the southern ‌part of the town. The public ⁠had ⁠been urged to steer clear of the area, which ‌was cordoned off, police also said on social...

Chinese carmakers could capture between 15 and 30 per cent of the European automotive market by 2035, up from roughly 10 per cent this year, analysts at Citi said, with the outcome resting on how far Brussels goes in tightening tariffs and made-in-EU rules. Current European Union rules would allow Chinese carmakers to reach 30 per cent by 2035 – Citi’s base scenario – while extending existing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to plug-in hybrids would cap the market share at 25 per cent, Citi...

US military facilities across the Pacific are in a worrying state of decay, the Pentagon inspector general warned, raising concerns about bases that are critical to deterring China. Corrosion and holes in buildings, falling ceilings and the presence of mould and asbestos were among the problems identified through inspections of 11 US facilities across the region and relayed to a dozen senior Defence Department officials in an emergency management advisory this month. The issues have affected...

The US military campaign against Iran has so far failed to force Tehran to capitulate. The Trump administration is betting once again that suffocating economic pressure will do the job. Facing a shortfall of necessary munitions and wary of continuing an unpopular war, Trump and his top officials are returning to a familiar playbook with Iran: relying on a steady increase in economic sanctions and a naval blockade to stifle oil exports. The renewed emphasis on economic pain – it was dubbed...

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited on Thursday Russia’s far eastern Kuril Islands for the first time, prompting a “strong” protest by Japan, which also claims the territory, and drawing diplomatic backing for Tokyo from the United States. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Kremlin posted a video of Putin in the Kuril Islands, with Russian media saying...

Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain. Conditions are “inhumane”, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to windows that open, the RCN said. As Britain sweats through its fifth heatwave of the year, record...

Three of Russia’s largest grain terminals in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk have halted operations after being damaged in a massive overnight drone attack by Ukraine. Grain shipments from Novorossiysk are currently impossible because of serious damage to terminal infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said. A loading gallery at United Grain’s Novorossiysk Grain Plant collapsed after the strikes and several silos were damaged, the people said, while a gallery and truck unloading...

Tonnes of aid from regional partners began to roll into Colombia on Wednesday, as the search for survivors in the rubble of a powerful earthquake grew more desperate after the temblor razed buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and his government as it scrambles to respond to the disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the most affected communities. De la Espriella said on Wednesday evening that...

China said on Wednesday it would help Colombia recover from the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the country’s west on Monday, killing more than 200 people. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would do what it could in suitable ways, in line with what Colombia requested, in response to questions from Xinhua and Telesur at a briefing in Beijing. Guo said no Chinese nationals had been reported killed or injured in the disaster, and that the embassy in Bogota was “working to...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month’s end, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May. Leavitt has been one of the most visible advocates of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. The Republican president described her as one of his “most trusted aides” in a social media post announcing her...

Day briefly turned to night in Spain on Wednesday, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century, plunging it into eerie darkness in one of nature’s greatest spectacles. The spectral glow of the sun’s outer corona, shimmering out of the edges of the shadowy moon, drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia. “It’s a sight I never would have imagined seeing,” said Isabel Troyano, a...

Eurovision Song Contest organisers announced rule changes on Wednesday excluding any country in an armed conflict from hosting the competition and increasing the minimum age of competitors. While they did not mention any country by name, Israel, which has been at war in Gaza since 2023, came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion. Under the old rules, the winning country normally hosts the following year’s competition. Under the new...

Israel on Wednesday carried out its first air strike in more than a week in Gaza, both sides said, breaking a relative lull as the US pressed a peace plan. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander, charging that he had been planning attacks against Israeli forces operating in the war-battered territory. “The terrorist was struck in an aerial strike in order to remove the threat to IDF troops,” a military statement said, adding that it tried to mitigate civilian harm. Gaza’s civil...

Spectacular images of lava flowing down the slopes of an erupting Mount Etna have drawn flocks of tourists to the Italian volcano – to the worry of local guides. The tallest active volcano in Europe, Etna has been spewing ash and lava for days, forcing the closure of the nearby Catania airport, a key gateway for tourists visiting the island of Sicily. Companies that organise nighttime hikes allowing participants to watch the eruption up close say they have been flooded with calls. “They all want...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a defence agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan aimed at stabilising a region wracked by conflict. The so-called Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the US-Iran war, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. “Our vision for it is not limited to the three...

US soybean growers are “adapting” to a steep decline in China-bound exports by selling to third countries and the American biofuel sector, compensating enough to cause only a small drop in production, according to a top trade association’s chief economist. In November, Beijing committed to buy at least 25 million tonnes of American soybeans annually through 2028, as part of an agreement reached after China stopped the purchases during US President Donald Trump’s trade war in early 2025. But just...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday threatened retaliation for Western seizures of its commercial vessels, describing them as “piracy.” Speaking on a visit to a Russian warship that was taking part in a naval exercise in the Pacific, Putin described the Western moves to detain vessels linked to Russia as a breach of international maritime law. “It’s nothing but piracy and robbery,” Putin said. “If this is done, we will be forced to respond in kind.” He added that the Russian response...

While rising trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to dominate headlines, Chinese exporters face a far more immediate and concrete threat: the boxes, wraps, and plastic bags protecting their goods. On Wednesday, the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) became applicable across the bloc. Replacing a 1994 directive, the regulation sets requirements for every piece of packaging placed on the EU market, covering chemical restrictions, recyclability,...

When Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television last week that he found it “very difficult” to reach the country’s supreme leader, it sparked fresh speculation about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei who has not been seen in public since taking over as the country’s ultimate authority in March. By Monday, Pezeshkian told the official broadcaster that the two had in fact recently held a meeting lasting “seven or eight hours”. “It was a very good meeting,” Pezeshkian told a...

Colombian rescuers pulled a 32-year-old woman alive from the rubble of a collapsed building on Tuesday, sparking cheers and applause as exhausted crews raced to find more survivors from the country’s strongest earthquake in a century. Daniela Largo was carried from the wreckage wrapped in a blue blanket as rescuers embraced and relatives shouted out with joy. Soldiers, firefighters and volunteers continued to scour collapsed buildings across western Colombia after Monday’s 7.4-magnitude...

US President Donald Trump deflected criticisms about a decision to secretly fly him out of Turkey on a different aircraft while the White House indicated he was aboard Air Force One, saying the Secret Service and military demanded it in response to unspecified safety threats. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday after deplaning Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews...

Diego Maradona showed “warning signs” that went unheeded during the home hospitalisation leading up to his death in 2020, a witness on Tuesday told the trial examining the Argentine football legend’s demise. Seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since mid-April in Argentina for potential negligence that may have contributed to his death. The World Cup winner died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after...

A US helicopter on Tuesday fired missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran’s ports, the United States military said. The US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired on and disabled the M/V Vela Nova “after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media, adding that the vessel “is no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the US blockade”. It was initially...

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 10 people overnight and wounded dozens, Kyiv said on Tuesday, accusing Moscow of launching North Korean missiles in the raid. The allegation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned – without providing evidence – that Moscow was receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang. Russia has turned to North Korea for support throughout its four-and-a-half-year invasion. Earlier in the war, Pyongyang dispatched...

Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries. The move comes after Israel sent an aid and disaster response delegation to Venezuela in June following devastating twin earthquakes that left thousands dead. It also follows the United States’ toppling of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro in a January military raid, with interim President Delcy Rodriguez now running the country under...

Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the US consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the US consulate in Toronto this year. Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a car linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday morning. The vehicle contained a propane tank and containers believed to hold flammable liquids,...

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to challenge its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors are undermining the ability to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes. The complaint – filed in the Southern District of New York – says that US President Donald Trump’s executive order last year targeting The Hague-based criminal court and the US sanctions issued...

Moscow on ⁠Tuesday freed a former US marine jailed in Russia ⁠since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon for the ailing American based on humanitarian reasons, US officials said. The White House and the State Department had urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he could receive medical treatment in the United States. “After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” US President Donald Trump...

At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South ‌Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said. Search and rescue operations are under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site ⁠near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said. The collapse ‌occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a ‌disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams ⁠said. The ⁠injured...

Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka, a critic of Viktor Orban who was fired during the ex-premier’s time in power, as the country’s next head of state. The post became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, an Orban ally, as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering hold over state institutions. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority,...

In a landmark change to Lebanon’s penal system, the country’s parliament on Tuesday approved legislation abolishing the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour, the state-run National News Agency reported. The vote makes Lebanon the first Arab country to formally abolish the death penalty. Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the parliamentary session, described the vote as a “historic step” for Lebanon. The measure was approved by a majority of the...

A nuclear plant in northern France shut down three reactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged pumps used to cool the units, energy group EDF said on Tuesday. Three reactors were taken offline on Monday and output at a fourth was cut by half, EDF said in a statement, leaving just one operating at full capacity. A sixth reactor was already offline for scheduled maintenance. “This situation has no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment,” EDF...

A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader ⁠Bashar al-Assad ⁠to death on Tuesday ⁠after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against ‌Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters...

US President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, The Washington Post reported on Monday. According to an anonymous US official who spoke to the Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane. The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to...

Despite representing nearly half the world’s population, accounting for about a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product and covering more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian land mass, the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the international arena remains relatively limited. While the SCO has long been a priority in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy, the grouping also serves as a platform through which all member states pursue their own foreign policy goals. What would it take for...

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood vaccines should be spaced out into separate medical visits. The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunisations at separate appointments whenever possible. It also directs the nation’s health department to...

The court dismissed a case over the Alien Enemies Act in a messy conclusion to a long-running legal battle that had seemed destined to end up before the Supreme Court.

U.S. leaders limited immigration amid economic and social turmoil. Historians see similarities to Trump’s crackdown, with a catch: He’s doing it without Congress.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform U.K., won the Clacton by-election with 63 percent. Count Binface, his costumed main rival, came second with 27 percent, a personal best.

Decrees restricting the rights of women and girls to study, work, travel and act independently now threaten to damage Afghanistan permanently, experts say.

Even at a time of anti-immigration politics, there has never been a richer variety of Mexican restaurants in the United States.

Our favorite choices for seafood from Sonora, carnitas from Michoacán, chalupas from Puebla and so much more.

Mr. Mangione faces federal charges of stalking that resulted in the death of a health insurance executive. A guilty plea could close the federal case — and complicate a separate state murder trial.

A bill would allow Jews to identify themselves as an ethnic group on state forms. Supporters argue it’s a step toward acknowledging the complex nature of Jewish identity.

The city of Belém in northern Brazil was overwhelmed by an outbreak of dengue two years ago. An all-out municipal effort has reduced cases and may offer lessons to American cities.

A U.S. oil company says it could be on the verge of a major discovery in Greenland. The proposal comes at a tricky time for the Arctic island, and locals are lining up against it.

The military’s failure to keep extremists away from two Palestinian families trapped in their West Bank homes made clear the chaos gripping the Israeli-occupied territory.

Prosecutors say they can seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson because he also endangered people near Charlie Kirk, who was shot in the throat last year. Mr. Robinson’s lawyers note that the gunman struck only his target.

A new generation of Afghans wants to move on from the animosities of the past, but Western policies make that difficult.

The signs point to Hamas being serious about disarming. The recent Board of Peace plan for it to surrender its weapons should be carried out.

The “Tonight Show” host said President Trump had been surprised by the press secretary’s decision to step down. “She was like, ‘I wanted to wait for a good time but there hasn’t been one, so.’”

The National Transportation Safety Board said it had found a bird’s remains and feathers on a broken engine.