Minimalist News

Tesla Reports 480,126 Q2 Deliveries, Crushing Estimates Tesla delivered a much stronger-than-expected second quarter, reporting 480,126 vehicle deliveries, well ahead of Wall Street forecasts of roughly 406,600. The company also produced 451,758 vehicles during the period, signaling a meaningful improvement after a slow start to the year, according to CNBC . Shares were volatile on the news and have settled near unchanged into the cash open… The delivery total marked a sharp increase from 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter and was also significantly higher than the roughly 384,000 deliveries Tesla recorded in the same quarter last year. As has

Egg Producers Reach State And Federal Settlement Over Price-Fixing Allegations Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, Three major egg producers have reached a $3.3 million settlement to resolve allegations of price fixing after being sued by the Justice Department (DOJ) and 17 U.S. states’ Attorneys General. Just the News reports that the complaint—filed in Iowa’s Northern District Court—contends that the defendants conspired to artificially inflate the daily price quotations of market reporting company Urner Barry Publications. According to the DOJ Office of Public Affairs , a civil lawsuit was filed against Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (Cal-Maine); Hickman’s Egg Ranch Inc.

US Adds Only 57K Jobs, Missing Estimates, As Unemployment Rate Slides On Plunge In Workers In our jobs preview post we quoted Goldman Delta One head, Rich Privorotsky, who said that "equities marginally want something weaker than consensus: with no forward guidance, hot NFP means hikes in play, which is unfriendly for pockets of equity risk. " Well, they got it because moments ago the BLS reported that in June the US added just 57K workers, half the 113K expected, and the worst monthly print since the big February drop. Except for an outlier 25K forecast from Citi, the jobs

Initial Jobless Claims Continue To Signal No Labor Market Stress The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time dipped last week to 215k (218k exp), continuing to show labor market resilience in the face of slumping sentiment. ...basically unchanged in five years. Continuing claims ticked higher but remains well off cycle highs from last fall... So once again, claims data shows no signs of the pain that sentiment surveys suggest... ...even though payrolls data suggests deterioration. Tyler Durden Thu, 07/02/2026 - 08:53

Ukrainian Capital Suffers 'Night Of Hell' In 11-Hour Russian Assault That Kills At Least 20 Just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of an impending "massive" escalation by Moscow, the skies over the Ukrainian capital erupted in a flurry of inbound drone and missile activity. At least 20 people were killed and several dozen injured in the overnight multi-wave Russian missile and drone assault that overwhelmed Kiev's air defense umbrella. The sheer scale of the bombardment indicates a significant ramping up of Moscow's retaliation strategy, after Russian territory has in turn suffered many weeks - even months - of

Futures On Edge As Sliding Chips Spark Another Korea Crash, Payrolls On Deck US equity futures have reversed all overnight losses which were driven by the latest crash in South Korean stocks, which plunged 8% and closed at LOD, driven by a plunge in memory stocks. Still, the Nasdaq is still lower with tech stocks depressed on news that Sam Altman's OpenAI is seeking to offer a 5% stake to Trump in what is clearly an attempt to incentivize the government to backstop the company whose revenues are clearly below budget. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are up 0.1%,

"Set Your AC To 78F": NYC Socialist Pleads With Residents As Fragile Grid Faces Blackout Risk " Set your AC to 78 degrees , turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can," New York City Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X late Wednesday. New Yorkers are now getting a real-world lesson in what Mamdani's recent " warmth of collectivism " comments actually mean: shared sacrifice, including being told to dial back air conditioning during blistering heat as the risk of power blackouts rises. New York: it's hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime

Sam Altman's OpenAI Discusses Handing Trump Admin A 5% Stake The U.S. government's equity portfolio could be expanding again, this time with a potential 5% stake in Sam Altman's OpenAI at an $852 billion valuation, according to a new report. The proposed stake would mark another step toward taking direct financial positions in tech giants. For OpenAI, buy-in from the Trump administration could ease mounting political pressure ahead of an IPO. The Financial Times reports that Altman has floated giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in OpenAI, modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund, a state-owned sovereign wealth fund created

Japan Takes Next Step In $2.3 Trillion Plan With Domestic AI Model And 10M Robots The Japanese government has unveiled plans to create a domestically developed artificial intelligence model and put roughly 10 million AI-equipped robots into operation across 18 sectors by 2040 - building on a 14-year growth strategy announced last month, which targets ¥370 trillion ( $2.3 trillion ) in combined public and private investment across 17 priority areas, including physical AI, semiconductors, quantum technology, and nuclear fusion. Kawasaki Kaleido The initiative will receive up to 1 trillion yen (approximately $6.1 billion) in government funding over the next

Why Bernie Sanders' AI Bill Is Fascistic And Dangerous Authored by Amirhossein Eshtiaghi via The Mises Institute , Bernie Sanders is a socialist populist. His unfamiliarity with the fundamentals of economics explains why he considers Denmark to be socialist. A former Danish Prime Minister once implicitly addressed such claims, noting that Denmark’s economy is not socialist, but rather a market economy. But the truth does not matter to American leftists. He has now made headlines again with a bill that would expand state participation in the AI sector —a plan that, contrary to the claims of his supporters, could have

Vance Warns 'US Has Options' As Iran Rejects Direct Doha Talks - Trump Insists Diplomacy Is 'Very Good' Update(1315) : The American side is keeping up the illusion of progress on Iran talks, even as Tehran has once again on Wednesday confirmed no direct meeting has taken in place in Doha - nor are there plans for direct dialogue, its deputy FM has said. President Trump has simultaneously hailed "very good" talks on Iran in Doha - apparently just referencing envoys Witkoff and Kushner merely dialoguing with third country intermediaries. On the same day, Vice President JD Vance played a

Treasure Hunters Recover $100K Silver Bar From Legendary 1622 Shipwreck Treasure hunters searching the waters off the Florida Keys have uncovered a 22-pound silver bar believed to have come from the wreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha , according to a new report from SlashGear . The artifact, estimated to be worth about $100,000, is the first silver bar recovered from the legendary wreck site in nearly three decades. It was discovered by divers working with Mel Fisher's Shipwreck Expeditions during a routine recovery mission. The Atocha was part of a Spanish treasure fleet that was destroyed

KKR And SK Launch South Korea's Largest Renewable Energy Platform By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com Global investment firm KKR and South Korea’s industrial conglomerate SK Inc are launching the single biggest renewable energy platform in South Korea to help meet growing power demand from AI and chip manufacturing. KKR and SK Inc are creating the platform, valued at about $1.3 billion, or 2 trillion South Korean won, to combine 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity in operation and a pipeline of projects in development that would boost the platform’s total capacity to 10 GW, the investment firm said in

Paris Deputy Mayor Blames US Air Conditioning For French Heat Wave The peasantry is not allowed to have creature comforts, otherwise, they might start thinking like free men. So, let them eat cake (and fight each other over the last few box fans). As we covered last week , over 1.2 million tourists have traveled to each US city hosting a World Cup game, and the resulting culture shock has gone viral across social media. Notably, European visitors have been surprised by American infrastructure, hospitality and, strangely, air conditioning. Apparently, European media and governments have spent an inordinate amount of

The Collapse Of Schengen... Over 1 Million Illegal Migrants Apply For Spanish Citizenship Via Remix News When the socialist-communist government of Pedro Sánchez first announced he was going to begin the mass legalization of migrants in his country, his government claimed this would amount to 500,000 people. Now, twice as many people are being legalized than first claimed , and importantly for the rest of Europe, those migrants now have the right to freely move through the Schengen zone. Due to his mass amnesty, The New York Times has now labeled Spain a " beacon of the global left ."

Russia Buying Gasoline From India To Tackle Shortages Russia, whose refining capacity has come under significant strain in recent months, has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India (the same country it exports millions of barrels of oil to), Reuters reported citing industry ​sources, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by ‌Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure. Fuel shortages are being felt across Russia's 11 time zones with rationing, long queues at filling stations and a record gasoline price increase, as a result of relentless Ukraine strikes on the country's refineries. On Tuesday, the Kremlin said that Russia

Alastair Crooke: Russia Hearing The European Clamor For War, Announces It's Ready Authored by Alastair Crooke The de-escalation framework that unfolded in the US-Iran Lucerne talks largely stayed true to the original Iranian 10-point plan. Meanwhile, President Trump and Vice-President Vance deliberately muddy the waters, claiming that Iran has already agreed to IAEA inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities (a claim repeatedly denied by Iran): Vance announced that the IAEA could have begun inspections this week. No – – the “Framework” only refers to the possible IAEA supervision of the dilution to the 60% enriched stockpile subject to a final agreement

What's Behind The Plunging Won And Sudden Liquidity Collapse In Korean Markets South Korea’s won weakened for a fourth day as overseas investors accelerated their relentless sales of local stocks. In response, USD/KRW rose 0.1% to 1,552.60, extending its four-day gain to 1.2% (i.e. KRW drop). According to Barclays, pressure from both resident outflows and more recently in the case of Korea, heavy foreign outflows, could pose further headwinds even as exports performance remains robust and domestic equities extend their bubble. Let's take a closer look at what's driving the key moves in Korea. Why was USDKRW higher? Other than

Supreme Court Justice Thomas Says Birthright Citizenship Ruling 'Devalues' US Citizenship Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times , Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a lengthy dissent criticizing the high court's majority ruling against President Donald Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship, saying the decision would effectively devalue American citizenship as it was understood by those who created the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images Thomas said the majority is attempting

FAA Moves To Lift 50-Year Ban On Overland Supersonic Flights The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday moved to end the more than 50-year ban on civilian supersonic flights over the continental United States, proposing rules that would allow aircraft to exceed the speed of sound provided they don’t produce a sonic boom. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on June 30 that the FAA has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would replace the more than 50-year-old prohibition on overland civil supersonic flight with a regulatory framework focused on limiting noise rather than speed. As Tom Ozimek

Trump and US officials opted to keep USMCA alive on short leash of annual reviews rather than longer term renewal Donald Trump has refused to renew the North American trade pact he once championed as his signature deal, opting instead to keep it alive on a short leash of annual reviews rather than committing to another 16 years. Wednesday was the deadline built into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for the three countries to jointly decide its fate, which is set to expire in 2036. Continue reading...

Three of the victims died from suffocation More than a million people gathered in Mexico City Four people died, three ⁠from suffocation, as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat ⁠said in the early ⁠hours ​of Wednesday. The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of fans had gathered to ⁠celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 32. Continue reading...

Country is first to join since Australia in 2015 as event director says it ‘continues to welcome the world’ Canada will ​join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced. Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member. Continue reading...

Anger at authorities and government grows as local people, volunteers and rescue teams continue search for survivors Four Venezuelan police officers have been arrested and are facing dismissal after being accused of looting cash from the rubble of a building that collapsed during last week’s devastating twin earthquakes . Local people and national and international rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the aftermath of the back-to-back quakes, which have killed almost 2,000 people, injured more than 10,000, and left tens of thousands missing. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: A country already in crisis since the removal of its leader earlier this year by the US, now has to find a way to rebuild with little state presence in evidence The shaking seemed to come from nowhere. In a moment captured by fishers off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, two earthquakes struck seconds apart . Plumes of dust appear where buildings once stood in the recording as the camera rises and falls with the swell. The men rapidly head for the shore in search of their families. “I’m shaking,” says the cameraman. Since the quakes struck last Wednesday,

Charges yet to be filed over incident in Mukdahan involving 11-year-old, as police seek to establish circumstances An 11-year-old boy has driven his parents’ truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand, killing at least nine monks. CCTV footage shared by a local rescue group showed the moment the monks, wearing orange robes, were run over as they walked in procession along a road. The timestamp on the footage was shortly before 11am local time on Thursday. Continue reading...

Rebels shoot pilot and set his civilian ⁠plane on fire amid long-running low-level battle for independence in region Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province. Continue

Unmarried man and woman whipped 21 times each because they had violated province’s version of Islamic law A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province have been publicly caned after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. The court ordered the couple, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing without being married. At least 100 people witnessed the caning, carried out by a group of people wearing robes and hoods on a stage in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh.

Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroad A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs

Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand energy shock, is now gaining from global solar and EV push China has emerged as the sole winner in Asia from the strait of Hormuz crisis, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report by the geopolitical consulting firm Asia Group concluded that China had weathered the storm of the global commodities crisis resulting from the closure of the Middle Eastern waterway, and also stood to gain from the economic and geopolitical trends sparked by the wider conflict. Continue reading...

Claims against Israel Defense Forces battalion include deliberate targeting and destruction of residential buildings in 2023 and 2024 without military justification Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australian federal police investigators are assessing a brief detailing alleged war crimes committed by an Australian citizen serving in the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. A 61-page brief has been handed to the AFP by the Australian Centre for International Justice detailing alleged war crimes committed by an IDF battalion in Gaza across 2023 and 2024. Continue reading...

Poll also finds perception of Donald Trump has soured since his re-election, with fewer than a third of respondents viewing him positively Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australians have a more negative view of Israel than of China, the latest Guardian Essential poll has found, with women and middle-aged people exhibiting the least positive perception of Israel. The poll also finds Australians’ perceptions of Donald Trump have tumbled since his re-election, with fewer than a third of voters having a positive response to the US president. Continue reading...

Swiss bank UBS finds ‘growing divide between the wealthiest and the broader population’ as country adds more than 25,000 more millionaires Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Middle Australia’s wealth is going backwards while the richest claim an ever-greater share of the pile, according to new research that shows more than 25,000 people across the country became millionaires last year. The latest global wealth report from the Swiss bank UBS said 2025 marked “an extraordinary year”, in which close to a million new millionaires were created worldwide – a record increase in a single

Julie Inman Grant singles out X when giving evidence to royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Mainstream platforms are fighting to distribute and monetise “gore” and “fringe” content, the eSafety watchdog has told the antisemitism royal commission. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, on Thursday singled out X, telling the inquiry her office has to fight its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to try to keep footage – including some posted of the Bondi terror attack – restricted or off the platform. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast ‘Eight weeks to shred documents’: Wells on social media law delay The main reason for Anika Wells ’ media appearances this morning is to kick the Coalition and the Greens for sending that social media bill – increasing fines for platforms and handing the eSafety commissioner more power – into an eight-week inquiry. It’s not complex, and I think Angus Taylor should explain why he is honestly giving big tech eight more weeks to prepare their case, eight more weeks to get their

Damage recorded in 30 locations across in the city from overnight attacks, with ‘most of them ordinary residential buildings’ in Dublin Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes not to wait too long for the results of an Irish government investigation into alumina exports to Russia thought to be feeding the Kremlin’s war machine. “Unfortunately there are companies in Europe that are owned or effectively controlled by Russia and its sanctioned oligarchs. They keep supplying the aggressor with essential materials even now.” Continue reading...

More than 70 missiles fired at Ukraine capital as Russia faces fuel shortages after strikes against its oil refineries Europe live – latest updates At least 21 people were killed and dozens injured overnight in Kyiv, local authorities said, in what the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko claimed was the worst Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital during more than four year’s of Russia’s air assault on Ukraine. Russia used nearly 500 drones and more than 70 missiles in the hours-long attack on Kyiv and other parts of the country in the early hours of Thursday. Loud explosions shook the capital

Indictment against alleged leader of gas pipeline attack claims former Ukrainian army officer was directed by state German prosecutors have accused Ukrainian “state authorities” of ordering the 2022 explosives attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia with Europe, a charge likely to ignite tensions between Kyiv and Berlin, its biggest military backer. The sabotage in the Baltic Sea by a team of assailants almost entirely destroyed the seafloor infrastructure of the key source of Russian gas to Germany. Continue reading...

Schism caused by Society of Saint Pius X ordaining four bishops without consent presents first crisis for Pope Leo Europe live – latest updates The Vatican has excommunicated a rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics who defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, creating a schism in the Roman Catholic church. In a statement on Thursday, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the group from the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), founded in the Swiss village of Écône in 1970, had “committed an act of a schismatic

Reports say up to 80,000 people waiting by mid-afternoon for chance to see historic artwork at British Museum People keen to see the Bayeux tapestry faced online queues of up to nine hours when tickets went on sale for the first time on Wednesday morning. The British Museum, which is hosting the tapestry from September, saw huge traffic to its ticketing website as a scramble for access began. Continue reading...

US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz Iran is jealously competing with Oman as decision-maker over strait of Hormuz Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks. In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as

Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience. For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control. Continue reading...

Tehran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait amid efforts to open strait of Hormuz without Iran’s direct oversight Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”. On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war. Trump said

Document appears to have been subject to conflicting interpretations on key issues of Lebanon ceasefire and strait of Hormuz The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war . It appears the deliberately opaque wording in the memorandum has been unable to withstand the pressure of conflicting interpretations, and as a result supporters of the deal inside Tehran are on the back foot. Statements to the effect that Iran’s

Iran attacked Bahrain and Kuwait after US strikes, and threatened a ‘complete halt’ to talks US and Iran trade strikes as both sides accuse the other of endangering ceasefire We will soon be closing this liveblog, but you’ll be able to stay up-to-date with our ongoing coverage of the Middle East here. Here is a summary of today’s events: Iran launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to US airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic , and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. US president Donald

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: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

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

Keir Mather and Virginia McVea’s claims follow decision by Maritime and Coastguard Agency to reject worker status of coastguard rescue officers A government minister and a senior official have been accused of misleading MPs over their plans to strip coastguard officers of their hourly pay. Keir Mather, the maritime minister, was said to have made false claims on Wednesday, while Virginia McVea, the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), was accused of having done so during a meeting with MPs a week earlier. Continue reading...

First judge found to have erred by giving 15-year-olds youth rehabilitation orders for rape of two girls in Hampshire Two 15-year-old boys who were spared custody for raping two girls have been sentenced to four years’ detention after the court of appeal ruled their sentences were “unduly lenient”. After a national outcry , the attorney general, Richard Hermer, referred the case to the court to consider whether the sentences given to three boys – identified only as X, Y and Z – were too light Continue reading...

Between 1949 and 1976, an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from unmarried mothers and placed for adoption in England and Wales Starmer said what happened to the mothers, and their children, should never have happened. He said: What happened to them, and to tens of thousands of mothers, children, and families, should never have happened. It is a stain on our history. Mothers, many young, vulnerable, and without support were coerced, bullied, or misled into feeling that they had no choice but to have their children taken away from them. What a thing to do. I have to confess, as

PM’s former chief of staff opens up on political mistakes and shares Trump’s theories about wind turbines UK politics live – latest updates Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s former chief of staff, has said Labour was not prepared enough for government or for the volatile world when Keir Starmer was first elected. McSweeney, who had been Labour’s elections guru credited by many in the party for the size of their victory in 2024 , said the party did not have an idea about how to make things happen quickly for people who wanted change. Continue reading...

Education minister Jacqui Smith suggests ‘disco nap’ on Sunday so everyone is fresh as a daisy on Monday World Cup live – latest updates Keir Starmer wants children up and ready for school on Monday morning regardless of the England game being played at 1am UK time. After England qualified for the next round of the World Cup on Wednesday evening after their win against the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the head coach, Thomas Tuchel, urged parents to let their children bunk off school so they could stay up to watch the match against Mexico. Play could last

‘Rooftopers’ Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov were arrested after allegedly scaling the New York skyscraper Two Russian “rooftoppers” who staged an apparent marriage proposal at the peak of the Empire State Building’s spire were reportedly arraigned in New York on Thursday on a slew of charges including reckless endangerment. Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov were arrested on Wednesday after the stunt, which featured the pair, dressed in all black, unfurling a peace banner and kissing. Continue reading...

Top House Democrat on committee that issued report says president ‘tries to steal the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and turn it into something that’s all about Trump’ Full report: Trump hijacked US’s 250 anniversary to serve ‘political ideology and pet projects’ Sign up for the Breaking News US email OpenAI is reportedly in early stage talks to give a 5% stake in the ChatGPT developer to the US government as artificial intelligence companies attempt to smooth relations with Donald Trump’s administration. The OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman , has argued that giving the US public a financial stake in

National Weather Service warns heat index could reach 115F as extreme heat grips midwest, Ohio valley and east coast Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A “prolonged, dangerous heatwave” is expected to intensify across parts of the central and eastern United States over the next few days and into the holiday weekend, bringing record-breaking temperatures, humidity, and dangerous conditions to millions of Americans. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Thursday that temperatures between 95F (35C) and 105F (40.5C), combined with high humidity, will push heat index values across parts of the region to between 100F (37.7C)

The US city is home to about 70,000 Bosnians, the largest diaspora community outside their homeland Mersad Smajic, a St Louis, Missouri, real estate investor and restaurant owner, has been thrilled to see fellow Bosnian immigrants thrive in their new home, which has been especially evident during the World Cup . The midwestern city has about 70,000 Bosnians, most of whom fled the country during its war in the 90s, making it the largest such community outside the Balkan country. Continue reading...

The outbreak infected 13 people and ‌killed three Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The World ⁠Health Organization on Thursday declared the ⁠ hantavirus ⁠outbreak ​linked to a cruise ⁠ship over after the last identified ⁠contact of an ​exposed ‌person ‌completed quarantine and tested ‌negative for the virus. The outbreak, which infected 13 people and ‌killed three, involved the Andes virus, ​a rare hantavirus strain that typically circulates in ⁠Argentina and Chile. ​The cruise ​ship, MV Hondius, ​set off ​from ‌Argentina ​on ​1 April. Continue reading...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s trip to Canada highlights deepening ties at a time when Ottawa is seeking to court middle powers and establish its presence in the Indo-Pacific. Marcos is in the Canadian capital for a four-day visit that started on Wednesday, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to strengthen cooperation on trade, labour, energy and tourism, and enhance defence and maritime ties. He is also slated to meet Canadian business leaders and...

Doctors said Wednesday they feared the aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a widening medical crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious diseases and a healthcare system already on the brink. Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded shelters or outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions following the June 24 earthquakes which officials say killed at least 2,295 and left more than 11,000 injured. Aid workers said...

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours on Thursday, blasting apart residential buildings, killing at least 18 people and wounding scores. Multiple explosions shook buildings and reverberated across the capital throughout the night as thousands of residents rushed to bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far this year, and was the deadliest since at least May when 24 people...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that indirect talks with Iran in Qatar were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of...

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese-American in California history with an annual namesake day. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco. An 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong. Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce...

The United States confirmed on Wednesday it would not renew its North American trade pact, its trade chief blaming Canada’s pursuit of Chinese investment. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the three governments met virtually and that Washington would not endorse the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form. “The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” Greer said in a statement. The refusal did...

When people speak of the Great Game, they usually mean the 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence over Central Asia. It conjures up images of spies crossing deserts, mountain fortresses and imperial intrigue – an era vividly brought to life in Peter Hopkirk’s books, which first awakened my fascination with the region. A century and a half after the Great Game, another contest is unfolding across the same region. To the north is Russia, the region’s traditional...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will celebrate their wedding at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the security plans. The festivities will kick off with a smaller rehearsal dinner planned for Thursday night, the official said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the events. Speculation about the superstar singer and American football player’s nuptials has built to a frenzy in...

A ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported on Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details. The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. A fifth of all oil and natural gas passed through it in peacetime. Since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Iran...

A Russian couple of daredevil artists climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City on Wednesday to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal that ‌ended in their arrests. Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus hung onto the landmark skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light at its tip some 443 metres (1,454 feet)...

A Maltese tycoon went on trial on Wednesday accused of ordering the murder of a hard-hitting investigative journalist that rocked the island nation, brought down a government and drew global condemnation. Suspect Yorgen Fenech is charged with orchestrating the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, a prominent public figure and vocal critic who was killed by a bomb placed in her car near her home. “Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial,” the...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One – a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth US$400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency. Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted in Trump’s preferred colour scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. With no team in World Cup, Chinese fans root for Ronaldo, Messi … and a referee Among the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to North America for the World Cup are countless Chinese supporters. Yet while China remains one of the world’s largest football markets, its presence at the...

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding...

At least five people have been killed and many injured in a fire in an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said on Wednesday. The blaze broke out mid-morning on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighbourhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement. An evacuation of the 10-storey building was under way. “Right now, unfortunately, at least 5 people have died in the fire. There are...

Power has historically been measured by indicators such as territory, population, industrial production, military capability and economic scale. Those foundations remain indispensable. But each technological revolution has changed the nature of geopolitical competition. The Industrial Revolution rewarded manufacturing capacity. The 20th century rewarded industrial scale, military mobilisation and ideological reach. Globalisation rewarded efficiency, integration and financial connectivity. The...

Indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, between officials from the United States and Iran aimed at ending the Middle East war have started, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed negotiations were under way after they earlier said the US and Iran were to hold “indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators”. The Doha talks are based “on the memorandum of...

Victor Willis, lead singer of the disco group Village People whose hit Y.M.C.A. became a fixture at rallies for US President Donald Trump, has died, his spouse said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS. Victor passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, as a result of a short, but aggressive illness,” the post on Willis’s official page said. The Texas-born musician, who was 74, was a co-founder of the Village People...

Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last ⁠month attributable to ⁠heat, official data showed ⁠on Wednesday, as a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) made it the second-hottest June on record. Data on the Health Ministry’s ‌daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed this June had the most deaths attributed to heat since the same month in 2015. Average temperatures last month were 3.2 degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said,...

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli air strikes, have been hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony. His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre...

It was the deadliest reported strike in the US-Israeli war against Iran, and most of the victims were children. Yet over four months since a US missile struck an Iranian primary school, there is no final accounting of what happened. The Trump administration has not directly accepted the blame, though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site had been struck, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Associated Press. Drawing from interviews with US officials,...

The US military has established a robust footprint of US forces in and around Venezuela to support relief operations, with over 900 personnel inside the country and another roughly 800 in Caribbean hubs Puerto Rico and Curacao, according to the top US general for Latin America. General Francis Donovan, the commander of US Southern Command, said US forces had participated in search-and-rescue operations, helped get the airport up and running and mobilised air and naval assets to ‌allow for the...

Oman Air is looking to capitalise ⁠on the Gulf ⁠state’s appeal as a largely ⁠untapped tourism destination as it launches flights from Muscat to Singapore on Thursday and considers an expansion to North Asia over the next year. The new nonstop Singapore service was underpinned by a lower cost ‌base and the airline’s year-old membership in the Oneworld alliance to aid with connections, as serving the city state with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur failed nine years ago, Oman Air CEO Con Korfiatis said...

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Belarus in June. He also travelled to North Korea on his first overseas journey this year and his first visit to Pyongyang since 2019. In total, 20 national leaders have met Xi in Beijing this year, including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The long list shows China’s growing global influence amid rising geopolitical tensions. Xi may meet Trump three more times this year. He...

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will undoubtedly mark a significant milestone for the city. The public consultation launched last month covers a range of issues, such as economic development, innovation and technology, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure and regional cooperation. The exercise offers a chance not only to discuss what Hong Kong hopes to achieve by 2030, but also how its success should be measured. That second question is perhaps the more important one. Hong Kong has...

A technical error caused a Tel Aviv-bound flight to report a hijacking Tuesday that led to Israeli and Bulgarian jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft, Bulgaria’s transport ministry said. An airport official earlier said that the Bulgarian company operating the Airbus A320 blamed pilot error. Bulgaria’s transport ministry said, however, in a statement: “The reason for the diversion is a technical failure of the aircraft’s transponder, which transmitted a false signal of unlawful...

US President Donald Trump reported more than US$1.4 billion in income from his ⁠family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how he now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefited from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday. The filings, his annual disclosure for 2025 with the US Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that his companies received almost US$800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons...

A person admitted to hospital in Scotland with suspected Ebola has tested negative, as central Africa continues to face a deadly outbreak of the virus. The person arrived at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday, according to a BBC report. A representative for the hospital declined to comment. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said in a statement a person was tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure. The government health agency said there are no confirmed cases in the...

When I was still working from the South China Morning Post’s office in Hong Kong, I fought with my expat colleagues throughout the summer over control of the thermostat. There were basically two tribes. I generalise here a bit, but essentially the locals wanted it freezing, which admittedly was bad for the environment and rather excessive. The expats, however, wanted it just a few degrees lower than outside, which seemed to defeat the purpose of air conditioning. When my late boss Simon, who was...

The United States was expected to formally decline to extend its free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada on Wednesday, starting a years-long process that could wind down the trade zone unless the three governments agree on sweeping changes. Trade chiefs from the three countries were due to meet virtually on the sixth anniversary of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, with Washington widely expected not to confirm that it wants to keep the pact in its current form. The move stops short...

Blake Lively is seeking US$8 million in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after resolving their dispute over the acrimonious production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us. Lively’s lawyers disclosed the amount, covering nearly US$7.5 million in lawyers’ fees from two law firms that represented her and about US$500,000 in other expenses, in a court filing on Tuesday. Lively and Baldoni settled last month just before a trial was to start in federal court in Manhattan on Lively’s...

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday against a renewed debate in favour of the death penalty and said he was appalled by the rising number of executions around the world. Addressing the ninth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Paris, Macron said opposition to capital punishment is needed “because today this debate is resurfacing in our societies”. “Because today many in our societies once again believe that the death penalty is a solution, amid a confusion of principles...

Almost 1,700 British ⁠investors are suing ⁠Binance and founder ⁠Zhao Changpeng for at least £150 million (US$200 million), alleging the crypto trading platform sold them risky, complex derivative products without regulatory authorisation. The claimants, some ‌of whom said they had lost tens of thousands of pounds, allege Binance entities knowingly sold investments such as leveraged products, which can amplify gains or losses, from late 2019 and promoted ⁠them in breach of the Financial Services...

Britain said on Tuesday it could intervene in Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, potentially holding up the US$110 billion deal after the US and China gave it the green light. The move could see the deal referred to the UK’s antitrust regulator, which made headlines in 2023 when it blocked Microsoft’s US$69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard to the fury of the two US companies. It later changed its mind after Microsoft amended its...

The US Supreme Court has again struck down campaign spending limits, this ⁠time rejecting federal restrictions on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates on free speech grounds. The ruling on Tuesday comes as major Republican committees head towards the November midterm elections with a significant cash advantage over their Democratic counterparts. Siding with Vice-President J.D. Vance and other Republican challengers, the court ruled 6-3 that a cap on the amount of...

The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for ⁠states to impose restrictions on transgender student athletes, upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho banning them from female sports teams. It delivered a major victory to conservatives in one of the country’s most fiercely contested culture-war battles. The justices overturned decisions by lower courts siding with transgender students who challenged the bans in the two states as violating the US Constitution and a federal...

Almost a week after two devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, survivors were still being found alive by rescuers that have come from abroad to help. Salvadorean rescuers reached a 44-year-old man trapped under the rubble of a shopping centre in the coastal city of Maiquetía in the early hours of Tuesday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele wrote on the platform X. The man had been supplied with water through a tube while rescuers found a way to reach him safely. Workers from the Ecuadorian...

The Russian luxury yacht Graceful, said to be the personal vessel of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has appeared on radar for the first time in almost four years, Danish public broadcaster DR reported. According to data from Marinetraffic.com, the vessel sailed along the northern coast of Denmark on Monday. DR reported that from Sunday morning it had been accompanied by two Russian warships as well as alternately by the Danish navy and the German coastguard. “The armed forces routinely...

When people talk about the race for artificial intelligence, they usually focus on software. Headlines revolve around ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek or the latest breakthrough model. Governments announce AI strategies and investors pour billions into start-ups promising to transform everything from medicine to education. Nonetheless, the most consequential battle in the AI age may not be over algorithms at all. It may be over the machines. Behind every chatbot response and AI-generated image lies a...

Iraqi oil stranded by the Middle East conflict has escaped the Persian Gulf over the past ten days as transit via the Strait of Hormuz eased during an uneasy US-Iran ceasefire. Vessels carrying about 14 million barrels of Iraqi oil exited the Gulf in the latter part of June and are now carrying crude to buyers in Asia, Europe and the US, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That is the equivalent of about 1.4 million barrels a day over the 10-day period. All cargoes loaded...

Thousands of people joined anti-migrant protests in South Africa on Tuesday, watched over by a massive police contingent that was deployed to prevent violence and intimidation. The demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria, the port cities of Durban and Cape Town and other towns were called by an organisation known as March and March to demand that all undocumented foreigners leave the country. The rallies, which marked the culmination of weeks of protests that have displaced thousands of mainly...

Self-flying fighter jets, uncrewed submarines and drones are at the centre of Britain’s future military under a defence plan announced on Tuesday that reflects a world of conflicts transformed by technology. Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who is expected to leave office next month after losing the support of MPs – unveiled his long-delayed Defence Investment Plan. Defence spending will ⁠increase to nearly £80 billion (US$105.85 billion) a ‌year by 2029, putting it on a ‌path to hit three per cent...

When late Venezuelan ⁠leader Hugo Chavez built this coastal housing development bearing his name as part of his socialist revolution, residents found ⁠a fresh start after deadly floods had decimated the area more than a decade earlier. But after two back-to-back earthquakes flattened parts of the 1,100-unit complex last Wednesday, engineers have urged the Venezuelan government to swiftly audit similar public housing that is still standing. “I lost my whole apartment,” said Yelsa Rojas, who since...

A passenger jet reported striking a drone while approaching JFK International Airport on Monday, and just hours later, a helicopter pilot alerted a close call with a remote-control plane near the same airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the first incident that happened as a JetBlue plane passed through 3,000 feet (914 metres) Monday morning while it was crossing the coastline. The plane landed safely in New York without any additional help, and no damage was found when...

A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in a US prison for a massive financial fraud that a federal judge said cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars. Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a US-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced in a Manhattan courtroom packed with his supporters by Judge Analisa Torres. She said he “preyed on those seeking...

The German software giant SAP says it is betting that employees can reinvent jobs instead of eliminating them. Experts are divided on whether it will work.

Ukraine is taking the war to Russia, but so far President Vladimir V. Putin’s response has been to keep attacking, including with deadly ballistic missile and drone strikes in Kyiv on Thursday.

A new study, backed up by analysts and political leaders, says frequent drone incursions near military assets mark a Russian campaign to probe defenses and gather information.

Long-delayed funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed during U.S.-Israeli strikes at the war’s outset, are set to begin Friday. For the regime, it is a critical moment to demonstrate that it has endured.

Senior U.S. officials have said Iran would be richly rewarded for changing its stance on the United States. Iran’s leaders have rejected such a bargain in the past.

The Trump administration had halted the shipments to Iraq as part of its efforts to pressure the Baghdad government to distance itself from Iran.

The agency has doubled its daily arrest numbers without the fanfare of last year’s large urban operations, sowing fear in immigrant communities.

President Trump and his family reaped vast financial rewards from a memecoin that generated losses for hundreds of thousands of investors.

American presidents have generally tried to avoid appearing to profit from the office. President Trump has chosen a different path.

President Trump’s business holdings, which garnered him more than $2 billion last year, create potential conflicts of interest surpassing any predecessor.

The pop star is poised to host a wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden. The logistics in Midtown Manhattan over the July 4 weekend are complex.

Fans see, in the pop star, reflections of their own lives: hope, heartbreak and now, finally, happiness.

For generations, writing up a summary of a patient exam was a vital step for physicians trying to make an accurate diagnosis. What happens when A.I. does it for them?

On Thursday, Blue Owl reported another quarter of double-digit investor withdrawal requests from some of its private credit funds.

Some say the industry expanded too quickly and extended loans to companies that won’t be able to pay them back.

This cell-like structure can grow, feed, divide and compete. Researchers ponder what it means for the future of synthetic biology and our definition of “life.”

It’s never just a game.

We explore how people in the U.S. identify their ancestry.

The 800-foot-tall residential development was designed by the architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, but scrapped before construction. An archivist saved the rough draft.