Minimalist News

Trump Tells Iran 'Clock Is Ticking, Move Fast' After New Peace Proposal As Analysts Predict Likely Return To War Update(1410ET) : President Trump has warned Iran on Sunday that the "clock is ticking" as Pakistani-mediated talks have not only stalled, but show no signs at all of restarting anytime soon. "They better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them," he wrote on Truth Social. "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!" He spoke the same day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who along with Lindsey Graham has been calling for resumption of robust anti-Tehran action to ensure

So Where Does Wokeism Come From? (Spoiler Alert: The French, Of Course!) Authored by Monica Showalter via AmericanThinker.org, How did wokeism happen? A French intellectual, who goes by Brivael Le Pogam on X, has written a tightly focused and brief explanation of it worthy of Eric Hoffer, putting his finger on the thinking of French philospher-historian Michel Foucault, French philosopher Jacques Derrida, and French philospher-literary critic Gilles Deleuze, the first of whom claimed there was no such thing as truth , just power relationships, the second of whom claimed truth was malleable, and the third of whom made the really

Switzerland To Vote On Capping Population At 10 Million In less than four weeks, on June 14, Swiss voters will decide on a proposal that, if passed, would mark a constitutional first: enshrining a hard limit on the country’s total permanent resident population. The " No to a Switzerland with 10 Million" initiative , backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), seeks to amend the Federal Constitution to keep the population below 10 million until 2050. If thresholds are approached or breached, the government would be required to tighten asylum and family reunification rules and renegotiate or terminate international

Net Zero Fearmongering In Tatters After Climate Report 'Implausibility' Ruling Authored by Chris Morrison via DailySceptic.org, The fallout from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ruling that computer model high emissions pathway RCP8.5 is “implausible” is only just beginning. Most mainstream media fearmongering stories over the last 15 years need to be moved into the junk file, as do the increasingly shrill sandwich-board pronouncements of King Charles and Sir David Attenborough . But the rot goes much deeper than ill-informed public comment, although that alone has been enormously influential in promoting the Net Zero fantasy. Activist-ridden science bodies

Japanese Company Simplifies Ketchup Packaging Amid Ink Shortage Tied To Middle East Conflict Kagome is revamping the packaging of several ketchup products after supply disruptions made white printing ink harder to source, according to Japan Today . The shortage stems from raw material constraints tied to the conflict in the Middle East. Under the redesign, bottles of Kagome Tomato Ketchup will no longer feature the brand’s usual full white-and-red label. Instead, part of the bottle will be left clear, creating a more minimal look. Kagome said switching to a different ink is not a practical option because of technical printing

Poland Is Now The Last Country Standing In The Way Of A Federalized Europe Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Its conservative president is totally against this project and can veto related legislation tabled by the liberal prime minister since the latter’s ruling coalition doesn’t have the two-thirds majority to overrule him, thus enabling Poland to play the role that Hungary did prior to Orban’s downfall. Politico earlier reported that “European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen waited less than a day after Hungary voted Viktor Orbán out of office to call for the EU to get more power over

A Deadly Day In Butler The following is an excerpt from the newly published book “The Trump Assassination Plots: What the Investigations Missed, and Why it Matters.” The book, which can be found here , attempts to provide the most complete account to date of the attempts on Donald Trump’s life (emphasis ours), A Deadly Day in Butler *CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* Three shots rang throughout the Butler Farm Show - causing Trump to grab his ear and fall on the ground, his security detail piling on top of him moments later. Numerous rallygoers later said that they thought they were

Pro-Israel Forces Throw Kitchen Sink At Massie Ahead Of Tuesday Primary Eleven months after President Trump launched an all-out political war on Rep. Thomas Massie, the Tuesday, May 19 Kentucky GOP primary is almost here. With polls showing the race going down to the wire, the anti-Massie forces -- whose animus is largely driven by Massie's refusal to vote in accordance with the Israel lobby's wishes -- have been throwing everything they can at him , from vague 11th-hour allegations of inappropriate conduct with a woman, to AI ads showing Massie entering a hotel room with progressive congresswomen, to a

Are There Really 'No Bad Ideas' When It Comes To 'Saving Our Democracy'? Authored by Eric Utter via AmericanThinker.com, Former Vice President Kamala (hic!) Harris recently opined that there are “ no bad ideas ” when it comes to brainstorming ways to reinvigorate the Democrat party. During a May 13th livestream on something called the "Win with Black Women" podcast, Hic! Harris suggested that the Democrat party prepare an "expanded playbook" of ideas to help it retake power after the 2026 midterm elections. Harris opined : "And in that no bad ideas brainstorm, we talk about what we need to

By Targeting Dairy Farmers, ESG Wants To Decide Your Milk Authored by Samantha Fillmore via RealClearMarkets , It starts with a letter in the mail. A dairy farmer opens it to find new requirements from their milk processing plant. Herd data, energy usage, emissions figures. The letter calls it voluntary but if you don't comply, the plant can't take your milk. And if the plant can't take your milk, you're out of business. That's 'Pathways to Dairy Net Zero' in practice... Pathways to Dairy Net Zero (P2DNZ) is presented as a voluntary, science-based initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from

Social Security Recipients Could See Larger Payment Adjustment In 2027 Amid Higher Inflation Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A senior citizens group has forecast that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security payments will increase by 3.9 percent next year, more than 1 percentage point higher than last month’s prediction. Blank U.S. Treasury checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia, on July 18, 2011. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images The Senior Citizens League, which issues monthly projections on the COLA for Social Security, said in a statement Tuesday the

Trump Secures $17 Billion Annual Chinese Commitment For U.S. Farm Goods Summary: White House Says China Agreed To $17 Billion Annual Commitment To Purchase Agri Goods China, U.S. Agree To Cut Levies On Select Products , Expand Agri Trade China, U.S. Reach Boeing Jet Purchase Agreement U.S. And China Agree To Establish Trade And Investment Boards Trump-Xi Summit Delivers Modest Trade Wins White House Releases Fact Sheet The White House has released more details about the agricultural deal it secured with China following President Trump's visit to Beijing last week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to a

"Taiwan Loses Its Strategic Importance In 18 Months," Says Chamath Palihapitiya In an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier that aired Friday, President Trump said that he doesn't want "to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war" over Taiwan. "I'm not looking to have somebody to go independent and, you know, we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war," Trump told Baier. "I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down." Taiwan has been a major point of friction between Washington and Beijing. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Iran Launches Crypto-Based "Hormuz Safe" Insurance Platform For Ships Crossing Strait Via The Cradle The Islamic Republic of Iran has launched a digital insurance platform, titled Hormuz Safe , in order to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and provide coverage for commercial vessels. The platform will rely on cryptocurrency payments from vessels and is being advanced by the Iranian Economy Ministry , according to a Saturday report by Fars News Agency . "The Ministry of Economy is advancing a plan that would make the management of the Strait of Hormuz possible through insurance - a model that

Big Pharma RINO Bill Cassidy Smoked By Trump-Endorsed Candidate In Louisiana Senate Primary Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) came in third in Louisiana's Republican Senate primary on Saturday - marking the first time in nearly 15 years that a sitting US Senator has lost a primary in a regularly scheduled election. Instead, Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow led with ~45% of the vote, while state Treasurer John Fleming came in second at 28%. Letlow and Fleming will now face off in a June 27 runoff. Cassidy was a notable fan of Obamacare, and voted to convict Trump during impeachment over the Jan.

Largest Ukrainian Drone Attack On Moscow In Over A Year Leaves Four Dead The Russian capital has just suffered possibly its single biggest and deadliest Ukrainian drone attack of the war - and certainly the largest attack wave on Moscow in the last year . It ironically comes exactly a week after President Zelensky signed on to a three day Russian 'Victory Day' ceasefire at the behest of President Trump. It also comes after several days of major Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. At least four people have been killed in the overnight large-scale assault wave , with

YouTube, Snap, And TikTok Settle Kentucky School District's Social Media Addiction Claims Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), YouTube, Snap, and TikTok have settled a Kentucky school district’s claims that the platforms fueled a youth mental health crisis that the school district said it was forced to manage . The Breathitt County School District in rural eastern Kentucky still plans to take Meta Platforms, parent of Facebook and Instagram, to trial on June 15. The agreements, detailed in federal court filings on Friday, are among the first set for trial in more than 1,200 similar lawsuits

DOJ Probes BlackRock Private Credit Fund Valuations After Dramatic Repricings It all started in late January, just before the Blue Owl debacle and the SAAS-palcypse sparked a historic crash in private credit. It was then that in a rare off-cycle disclosure, BlackRock TCP Capital Corp., a publicly traded private-credit fund structured as a business development company (BDC), disclosed a 19% markdown in net asset value as troubled loans weighed on performance. The news not only sent shares of the fund plunging 13% on Jan. 26, the most since March 2020 but market one of the first major private credit signal

The Fed Will Invent New Inflation Numbers Out Of Thin Air Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance The Federal Reserve is rapidly approaching the point where every available option becomes politically toxic, economically destructive, or both. Inflation remains stuck around 3.8% CPI, well above the Fed’s stated 2% target, and that number alone should theoretically eliminate any serious discussion of aggressive easing. Treasury yields are rising as bond investors demand compensation for persistent inflation, uncontrolled fiscal deficits, and the growing realization that Washington’s debt load is becoming increasingly unstable. The American consumer, meanwhile, is clearly running on fumes . Credit card

Massive Mushroom Cloud 'Test' Blast Rattles Uninformed Residents Outside Jerusalem Late Saturday night, a massive explosion and a bright fireball illuminated the skies over Israel's Beit Shemesh, deeply rattling local residents and setting off rampant speculation in local media and online commentary. The area lies just 19 miles west of Jerusalem, close enough to be located within Jerusalem District. Curiously, the state-owned Tomer rocket propulsion defense ministry-linked firm subsequently sought clarify that the blast was actually a controlled , pre-planned test and that authorities were notified in advance. However, community members have complained about receiving absolutely no warning , and

Civilians left increasingly exposed as a dangerous new front opens up in the country’s decades-old conflict As night fell over southern Colombia , and a group of children began their weekly Tuesday football match, a drone appeared overhead. The children looked up, and the drone dropped a grenade, its blast killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring 12 more civilians. The child’s death, in southern Cauca in 2024, marked the first known time a person in the country had been killed in a weaponised drone attack. Continue reading...

Four months after Trump’s surprise raid, a political thaw has descended – but mingled with hope is trepidation for what comes next When Ángel Linares heard a strange buzz followed by an explosion, his first thought was that neighbours were setting off fireworks to celebrate the new year. Then his windows shattered, the building’s walls shook and its facade was ripped off, sending him flying on to the ground of an apartment suddenly reduced to rubble. His 85-year-old mother, Jesucita, feared Venezuela’s northern coast had been devastated by an earthquake, like the one she remembers from 1967. Continue reading...

The person was onboard the MV Hondius, the center of the outbreak that has claimed three lives Canadian officials said on Saturday that a test for one of the four Canadians currently quarantining in British Columbia after being exposed to the hantavirus while on board the cruise ship where the outbreak occurred indicated a positive result. Speaking at a news conference , Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, said the individual developed mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago, and that the individual and their partner, who had also been on board the cruise ship where

Trump administration move echoes indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as fuel crisis racks Cuba Tensions between Cuba and US seem set to rise further amid reports that Raúl Castro, the country’s 94-year-old former president, may soon face the type of indictment that led to the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January. Although Raúl is officially retired, he remains the most potent figure in Cuban politics following the death of his brother Fidel in 2016, and by targeting him Washington appears to be heaping pressure on Cuba’s communist leadership at the end of an already extraordinarily intense

Record heat in North and Central America coincides with egg-sized hailstones in eastern China Extreme weather across several parts of the world this week has brought record-breaking temperatures to Honduras, North America and Indonesia. Honduras smashed its all-time May maximum temperature record earlier this month – only for it to be broken again on 13 May in Choluteca, known as the furnace of Central America. Temperatures climbed to 42.2C (107.9F), surpassing the previous record of 42.1C. With intense heat forecast to persist over the coming weeks, more records are expected to fall. Continue reading...

China’s deep relationship with Russia remains a continuing cause for concern in the west, particularly since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin exchanged “congratulatory letters” on Sunday ahead of the Russian president’s visit to Beijing this week, four days since Donald Trump left China after a high-stakes summit . Xi, China’s leader, said bilateral cooperation between Russia and China had “continuously deepened and solidified”, with this year marking the 30th anniversary of the two countries’ strategic partnership, according to Chinese state media. Continue reading...

Naegohyang FC due to play Suwon FC in semi-final of Asian Women’s Champions League on Wednesday A North Korean women’s football club has arrived in South Korea for an AFC Women’s Champions League semi-final, marking the first visit by athletes from the isolated state to the South in eight years. The delegation of 27 players and 12 staff entered the country on Sunday before Wednesday’s match between Naegohyang FC and South Korea’s Suwon FC Women in Suwon. Continue reading...

Thai authorities say 32 others injured near Makkasan station after freight train strikes bus and fire breaks out At least eight people were killed and 32 others were injured in Thailand after a freight train struck a bus at a rail crossing in Bangkok, rescue officials and a deputy transport minister said. Firefighters and rescue crews were dispatched as flames engulfed the bus and nearby vehicles close to the airport rail link’s Makkasan station, officials said, adding that the collision also involved cars and motorcycles. Continue reading...

Family and supporters had hoped the US president could help free the 78-year-old British citizen during summit talks in Beijing Donald Trump raised the case of jailed Hong Kong democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai in talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping but was told it “is a tough one”. Family and supporters of the 78-year-old British citizen had hoped the US president could help secure his release. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Colorado governor commutes sentence of election denier Tina Peters Sign up for the Breaking News US email Jamieson Greer also said US export controls on semiconductor chips were not a major topic of discussions with Chinese officials in Beijing . The US trade representative’s comments to Bloomberg on Friday suggest a breakthrough on selling Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips to China remains far away, Reuters is reporting, despite Nvidia chief Jensen Huang ’s last-minute invitation to Donald Trump ’s Beijing trip this week. This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting.

The historian won $50,000 for her nonfiction book Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions, which judges praised as deeply researched, ‘highly original’ and ‘vividly alive’ A “highly original” nonfiction by Melbourne historian Clare Wright, charting the creation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions – a seminal moment in Australia’s history of land rights – has won book of the year at the NSW literary awards. The Petitions were landmark documents presented by Yolŋu elders to the Australian parliament in 1963 on painted bark frames, which sought government intervention after a portion of Arnhem Land Reserve was licensed to a French mining company.

‘Look, if I was in a French supermarket, I probably would have got a two for one deal on that one,’ woman in WA told national TV Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When a group of housemates in Western Australia bought a pair of lettuces in a sealed plastic bag – reduced for quick sale to $1.15 – they got two other things for which they could not have bargained. One was a live frog reckoned to be the size of a man’s palm.

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Data reveals how Coles and Woolworths switch promotions in sync You’re looking to buy an electric toothbrush. You’re in Woolworths and you see one of the Oral-B kits advertised for sale at $99.50. We understand that people will have strong views about the politics of this but it is the substance of the changes that we are making that matters most and the substance of what we are announcing today: tens of thousands of new homes for Queenslanders including tens of thousands of

Inquiry into black market hears cost of destroying vapes has also soared, with some requiring manual dismantling Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Police are struggling to store a growing wave of illegal cigarettes and vapes seized from criminals, with secure facilities at capacity and the high cost of destroying illicit products becoming prohibitive. The Australian federal police (AFP) has been spending as much as $13 a kilogram for vapes to be destroyed, with some companies requiring the cartridge, battery and heating element to be

Federal court case begins for classical pianist who alleges Melbourne Symphony Orchestra unlawfully discriminated due to his views Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A classical pianist who alleges the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra unlawfully discriminated against him because of his views on Israeli forces killing Palestinian journalists says he did not consider apologising for making the statement at the centre of the case. Pianist Jayson Gillham is suing the MSO over a cancelled Melbourne concert he was contracted to perform on 15 August 2024, a

Ukrainian president says Europe must ‘have a strong voice and presence’ amid search for candidate who could lead any talks with Putin Elsewhere, we are getting a line from Rome, with the Italian foreign ministry confirming that rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave in a Maldive atoll, AP reported. Five Italian divers are believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s foreign ministry, way below the recreational diving limit of 30 meters. Continue reading...

Singer says she has faced ‘years of public shaming’, as court rules tax agency made mistake over her 2011 status A court in Madrid has ordered Spain’s tax authority to pay Shakira back more than €55m (£48m) after ruling that it had wrongly imposed huge fines on the Colombian singer and philanthropist because it had made mistakes over her tax status. In a statement released on Monday, the Audiencia Nacional said it had accepted an appeal from Shakira against the fine she was handed five years ago after the Agencia Tributaria claimed she had not paid the necessary tax in

Temperatures in France and England could rise by 15C, while hot air could to give way to snow in parts of US After a prolonged spell of cool conditions across much of Europe, a dramatic swing in temperatures is expected in the coming days as warmer air surges north into western and central parts of the continent. A large blocking high over the North Atlantic and slow-moving low pressure across southern Scandinavia dragged Arctic air southwards last week, sending temperatures 10-15C below the seasonal average for more than a week. Continue reading...

People’s party wins regional election but loses absolute majority, opening door to possibly months of negotiations Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP) won Sunday’s Andalucían regional election , but lost its absolute majority, leaving it dependent on the support or abstention of the far-right Vox party to form a new government. After the poll in Spain’s most populous region – which will serve as a barometer of wider electoral opinion before next year’s general election – the socialists slumped to an all-time low and Vox picked up one additional seat. Continue reading...

Singer and actor who has appeared in more than 40 films faces investigations in France and Belgium The French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, the subject of multiple rape allegations, protested his innocence on Sunday and said he would not step away from his work. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced earlier on Sunday that Bruel was the subject of at least four complaints of sexual assault in France, and that the cases would be investigated together. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading...

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it doesn’t come to an agreement UAE blames Iran or its proxies for drone strike fire near nuclear plant Friedrich Merz has been embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over his war on Iran ever since the German chancellor suggested the Trump team was being outplayed in its negotiations with Tehran and said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate. The Guardian’s Berlin correspondent, Deborah Cole, has looked at the declining relationship between the two leaders in this

Abu Dhabi denounces ‘dangerous escalation’ as Iran war ceasefire grows more precarious, and US president voices impatience at stalemate The United Arab Emirates has blamed a fire near its nuclear power plant on a drone launched by Iran or one of its proxies in what the UAE called a “dangerous escalation”. The fire was just outside the Barakah nuclear plant and caused no injuries or radiation alerts, with the emirate’s nuclear regulator saying there was no radioactive leak or risk to the public. Continue reading...

Three paramedics at health centre among dead, while Hamas military chief Izz al-Din al-Haddad killed in Gaza strike Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, killing at least six people, including three paramedics working at a health centre, just hours after its envoys had agreed with the Lebanese government to extend a ceasefire . Israel also said it had killed the Hamas military chief, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, in a targeted strike in Gaza on Friday. Continue reading...

Statement following ‘productive’ talks in Washington comes as Israel launches strikes on southern city of Tyre Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire after another round of talks in Washington, the US state department has said. It came after two “productive” days of talks, and more negotiations would be held from 2-3 June, the department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. Continue reading...

The film-maker, who won the Grand Prix for A Hero in 2021, condemned both the killing of protesters and the conflict’s bombing campaigns during a Cannes press conference Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has described the deaths of civilians in Iran as “extremely cruel and tragic” during a press conference at the Cannes film festival. Farhadi, whose new Paris-set drama Parallel Tales premiered on the Croisette on Thursday night, was asked about working free from censorship in France, the war involving Iran, the US and Israel, and the repression of protesters in his native country. Continue reading...

Gautam Adani, richest man in Asia, was accused of conspiring to pay $250m in bribes to Indian government officials The US Department of Justice is dropping its fraud charges against the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the richest man in Asia, after he hired a new legal team led by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, according to new reports. In an undisclosed April meeting at the justice department, Trump’s personal lawyer, Robert J Giuffra Jr, said that Adani would invest $10bn in the US economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges against him, according to the New York Times

Stone being paid $50,000 a month to ‘rebuild’ relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government The US lobbyist Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of Donald Trump, has been condemned for accepting $50,000 a month to “rebuild” relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government. Myanmar’s leaders have been internationally isolated since seizing power in a coup in 2021 , and have repeatedly been accused of atrocities that may amount to war crimes . Activists say the military rulers, which recently held widely condemned “sham” elections , are now trying to reassert themselves abroad. Continue reading...

Turmoil and violence rocks state after prime minister Narendra Modi’s party claimed victory in legislative election Tensions have been high in the Indian state of West Bengal after a top political aide from Narendra Modi’s party was shot dead in the street and hundreds were arrested as violence broke out following elections this week. The prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) claimed victory in the West Bengal elections on Monday , defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had ruled over the state legislature for 15 years. Continue reading...

Mamata Banerjee says Narendra Modi’s party ‘forcefully captured’ election that ended her party’s 15 years in power A political showdown is taking place in the Indian state of West Bengal as the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, India’s most powerful female politician, has refused to resign after she lost elections to the prime minister’s party this week. Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won an overwhelming victory on Monday in state elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party (TMC) have been in power for 15 years. Continue reading...

Result in key Indian state is set to have significant implications for the country’s political landscape Narendra Modi’s party has won a resounding election victory in West Bengal, a state which had been a rare opposition stronghold, expanding his unrivalled consolidation of power across the country. It is the first time that the Indian prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has won assembly elections in West Bengal, a large and politically significant state in eastern India. Continue reading...

The prime minister, speaking to party staff, defended the government’s achievements since it was elected in 2024 Jakub Krupa writes the Guardian’s Europe live blog. The European Commission has been asked about its response to the renewed talk about Britain’s potential future attempt to rejoin the European Union – but did not take a bait. At this stage, there are discussions on closer cooperation in a number of areas, that’s where we are, and that’s what we are doing precisely in preparation for the next summit rather than speculating about big or renewed issues. We are not there. If we

Deputy PM’s comments come as Starmer says he will back Labour’s Makerfield byelection candidate ‘100%’ UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer is not about to set a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, David Lammy, one of the prime minister’s closest cabinet allies, has said, urging Labour to get beyond the “spectacular own goal” of repeated leadership speculation. The prime minister visited Labour HQ on Monday and told staff the whole party should show “100%” support to help win the crucial Makerfield byelection, as sources said he was not considering stepping aside for Andy Burnham should he

Startup has declined to release Claude Mythos AI model publicly amid fears it could be used by hackers Business live – latest updates Anthropic is to brief the global finance watchdog on the implications of its Claude Mythos AI model, whose potential threat to cyber defences has alarmed experts. The US startup will discuss Mythos with the Financial Stability Board, which is chaired by the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey. Continue reading...

Washington-based fund praises Rachel Reeves for aiming to cut budget deficit as it upgrades growth forecasts Business live – latest updates The International Monetary Fund has urged Britain to “stay the course” to cut government borrowing amid growing bond market concerns over a Labour leadership challenge. As Keir Starmer battles to cling on to power, the Washington-based fund said it was important to continue reducing the budget deficit “given market pressures and elevated implementation risks”. Continue reading...

Trump warning over peace talks drives up crude price as UK gilts hit by uncertainty over Starmer leadership Business live – latest updates Oil prices rose and global bonds wobbled on Monday, as fresh tensions in the Middle East fed inflation fears and bets that central banks will have to increase interest rates. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, rose on Monday, after an attack on a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading...

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it does not reach agreement. Plus, how to become emotionally mature at any age Good morning. Donald Trump has voiced impatience at the deadlock over peace talks with Iran, posting on social media: “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” What else is happening in the region? The United Arab Emirates has blamed a fire near its nuclear power plant on a drone launched by Iran or one of its proxies,

GOP to target seat held by Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat among the state’s seven representatives in the House Sign up for the Breaking News US email Dozens of state anti-vaccine bills backed by Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters have failed after public health groups won over Republican state lawmakers, marking a series of defeats for the backers of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. The failures show a limit to the political power of the MAHA coalition groups that had set out this year to pass laws against mandatory vaccinations in at least 10 states, hoping to capitalize

Participants who got single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than those who got placebo Results from a new clinical trial show that a single dose of psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction. The study, published in Jama Network Open this month, showed that 19 participants who received a single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than 17 participants who received a placebo of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine. Continue reading...

Singer took lead vocal on UK No 1 When You’re in Love With a Beautiful Woman, and had numerous other transatlantic hits Dennis Locorriere, the guitarist and singer with the chart-topping soft rock band Dr Hook, has died aged 76. A statement from his management company said he died on Saturday “after a long and courageous battle with kidney disease … Dennis faced his illness with remarkable strength, dignity, and resilience throughout, and remained deeply cherished by all who knew him”. Continue reading...

Proposed IRS data sharing with immigration authorities and ICE raids have made filing risky for those who are undocumented The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could cause the US to potentially lose up to $479bn in lost tax revenue over the the next 10 years, with enforcement deterring undocumented workers from filing their taxes this year, according to tax experts. Tax advisers say major changes, including proposed data sharing with immigration enforcement, have made filing taxes risky for undocumented immigrants. Tax benefits for immigrant parents have also been removed, further removing incentive to file taxes at all. Continue reading...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump leaves China after much pomp and pageantry, but little to show for it 2. Trump and his CEOs want China’s business – but has Asia moved on? 3. What do travellers need to know when Hong Kong airport’s Terminal 2 opens? 4. Reality deficit: how South Korea lost the plot on AI 5. Have Chinese...

No country on Earth has adopted artificial intelligence faster than the United Arab Emirates – and the Middle Eastern cultural crossroad’s ambitions to become an AI bridge to the Global South just got another major leg up with the delivery of the latest, cutting-edge US-designed chips. But those ambitions are taking shape in a hostile environment. Amid the US-Israel war on Iran, Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has repeatedly taken aim at major Emirati data centres, developed in...

US President Donald Trump and top cabinet officials addressed thousands of Americans at a mass prayer rally in Washington on Sunday – an event critics saw as an overt display of Christian nationalism undermining the separation of church and state. The gathering was organised by the White House as part of a programme of celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary and billed as an opportunity to revive the idea of a country founded on Christian principles. During the outdoor event on the National...

Israeli strikes killed seven people in Lebanon on Sunday, including an Islamic Jihad commander, Lebanese authorities and state media said, despite a fragile ceasefire as Hezbollah called US-brokered talks between the two countries a “dead end”. The health ministry published a “preliminary toll” for Israel’s strikes on Sunday, with three people killed in the town of Tayr Felsay, including a child, and two killed in the town of Tayr Debba, including another child. It said 11 people were wounded in...

A ⁠number ⁠of ⁠Americans currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo are believed to ‌have had exposure to suspected cases in the country’s latest Ebola outbreak, with several deemed to ⁠have had high-risk exposures, US health news website STAT ‌News reported on Sunday. At least one of ‌these individuals may have ⁠developed symptoms, ⁠the report said. Reuters could ‌not immediately verify the report. The ‌Ebola outbreak ‌in DR Congo ⁠and Uganda has been declared a ⁠public health emergency of...

All four crew members ejected safely after two US Navy jets collided on Sunday during an air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in western Idaho, officials said. The collision and subsequent crash involved two US Navy EA-18G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington, said Commander Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, US Pacific Fleet. The aircraft were performing an aerial demonstration when the collision occurred, Umayam said in a...

Hong Kong should not limit the number of vehicles licensed to provide ride-hailing services. In particular, every owner of an electric vehicle that complies with the regulations should, in principle, be able to obtain one on demand by paying the required fee. Normal market forces, together with fees and other licensing requirements, will be sufficient to strike the right balance. I have used ride-hailing services a lot recently. Knee replacement surgery has restricted my mobility, and I have a...

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday visited people wounded by a driver with a history of mental health problems who ran over several pedestrians in northern city of Modena. Hundreds gathered in the evening at the call of the city’s mayor to “unite against those who want to divide and sow hatred” after some far-right politicians tried to tie the incident to immigration. The driver, a 31-year-old Italian man of Moroccan heritage, hit several people in central Modena before crashing...

A 67-year-old hiker has died after being attacked by a herd of cows in Austria, authorities said, in the latest fatal incident involving livestock in the Alps. The woman was attacked by what police described as a “mid-double-digit number” of cows in a pasture in the alpine district of Lienz in East Tyrol on Sunday afternoon. Her 65-year-old husband was also seriously injured. Authorities said the reasons for the animals’ aggressive behaviour remain unclear. The couple were not accompanied by a...

Norway’s interior security service, PST, said on Sunday a Chinese man had been arrested in the country’s north for spying, just weeks after a Chinese woman was arrested suspected of spying on satellite data. The suspect was arrested on Friday by the Nordland police district, Eirik Veum, PST’s media spokesman, told Agence France-Presse. Veum said the man was suspected of “attempted illegal intelligence activities in Nordland”, but declined to provide further details on the nature of the...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel had almost completed a key goal of the war in Gaza – eliminating all those responsible for orchestrating the attack on October 7, 2023. His remarks followed the Israeli military’s announcement that Ezzedine al-Haddad, commander of Hamas’ armed wing, had been killed in an air strike in Gaza on Friday. In the aftermath of the October 7 assault, Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate the masterminds behind the attacks, which, according...

German police shot dead a tiger that escaped from a private facility near the eastern city of Leipzig, with a 73-year-old man seriously injured in the incident, authorities said on Sunday. Police said the man was inside the enclosure when the animal broke free in Schkeuditz, on the outskirts of Leipzig. He was described as a volunteer authorised to be on the premises and was taken to hospital with serious injuries. “The tiger left its enclosure. It was then found by police officers near a garden...

Around 10 “new” suspected victims have come forward in a French investigation into the network of the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a prosecutor said on Sunday. France opened a human trafficking investigation after the US Justice Department in January released the latest cache of files from the investigation into the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while facing charges of trafficking underage girls for sex. French magistrates are seeking to investigate possible offences...

A drone strike sparked a fire on the edge of the United Arab Emirates’ sole nuclear power plant on Sunday in what authorities called an “unprovoked terrorist attack”. No one was blamed, but it highlighted the risk of renewed war as the United States and Iran signalled they were ready to fight again. There were no reported injuries or radiological release. The UAE, which has hosted air defences and personnel from Israel, recently accused Iran of launching drone and missile attacks. Tensions have...

Russia’s capital and the surrounding Moscow region came under record drone attacks overnight, leaving at least three people killed and over a dozen wounded. Residential buildings were damaged across several suburbs and Moscow’s oil refinery was targeted in a rare strike, according to local authorities. Operations at all four Moscow airports faced rolling disruptions from late on Saturday but have resumed operations after dozens of flight cancellations and delays. Attacks on other Russian regions...

US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing with a delegation of leading American tech executives should not be read as a throwback to transactional diplomacy. It points to something more consequential. After years of rhetoric about economic separation, the reality is becoming harder to ignore: the United States and China are not decoupling. They are learning how to compete while remaining deeply entangled. For much of the past decade, Washington has framed its China policy around technological...

The World Health Organization declared an international health emergency on Sunday over an outbreak of an Ebola strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has killed more than 80 and for which there is no vaccine. Fears of further spread grew when a laboratory on Sunday confirmed a case in the major eastern DRC city of Goma, which is controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia. A total of 88 deaths and 336 suspected cases of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever have so far been...

US President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr succeeded in their efforts to defeat Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana’s Republican primary, a signal of the enduring strength of the president’s hold on his party despite an unpopular war and soaring fuel prices. Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators in 2021 who voted to convict Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection on January 6 that year. He placed last in a three-way race on Saturday against Representative...

The launch of limited edition Swatch watches descended into chaos on Saturday in several European cities and New York, with French police firing tear gas to restore order at one store near Paris. Hundreds of people waited through the night – and in some cases for several days – hoping to get their hands on the “Royal Pop” timepieces, made in collaboration with luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet. In France, lines of hundreds of people formed through the night in several cities and a police source...

Three polls firmly caught my attention over the past month or so. Each was conducted by a different outlet and addressed different questions. However, taken together, they tell one overarching story – implicitly, but unmistakably. Beyond an assortment of data, the story is about direction. The first was a CNN poll. It showed that 76 per cent of Americans now see high prices and the cost of living as their country’s most serious economic problem. Even more striking, nearly seven in 10 expect a...

Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time on Saturday in a final overshadowed by five countries’ boycott over Gaza, claiming a dramatic ‌victory despite another big public vote for Israel that secured it second place. The garish and usually good-natured competition involving pop acts from countries across Europe and beyond, now in its 70th year, has been plunged into crisis by a dispute over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, a response to ⁠the Hamas-led attack on October 7,...

One of four Canadians who returned home from a cruise ship where there was a hantavirus outbreak received a “presumptive positive” test result for the virus, Canadian officials said on Saturday. Results from the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg to confirm the case are expected to come over the weekend, said Bonnie Henry, the public health officer for the province of British Columbia. “Clearly this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” Henry said. The person, one member...

A Rwandan suspect charged in connection with the 1994 genocide died in a hospital while in custody in The Hague, Netherlands, a UN court said on Saturday, three years after the court declared him unfit to continue standing trial. Felicien Kabuga, 91, was accused of encouraging and bankrolling the mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority. His trial began in 2022, nearly three decades after the 100-day massacre that left 800,000 dead. In 2023, the judges declared him unfit to continue standing...

A humpback whale that underwent a rescue operation in Germany two weeks ago after beaching itself there has been found dead near a Danish island, officials said on Saturday. “It can now be confirmed that the stranded humpback whale near Anholt is the same whale that was previously stranded in Germany and was the subject of rescue attempts,” said Jane Hansen, division head at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. The whale, dubbed “Timmy” in German media, was initially spotted stuck on a...

⁠A man drove a car into a crowd in the northern Italian city of Modena, injuring at least eight people, four of whom are in serious condition, police said. The driver – a 30-year-old born ‌in Bergamo and of North African origin, who had moved to the province that includes Modena – attempted to flee after the car crashed into a shop window, Modena’s mayor told broadcaster RaiNews24. The fleeing driver was stopped by some pedestrians, one of whom he attacked with a knife and slightly ⁠injured. The...

Israel’s military on Saturday said it had killed the chief of Hamas’ military wing in an air strike on Gaza the previous day, the most senior Hamas official killed by Israel since ‌an October US-backed ceasefire agreement that was meant to halt fighting. A senior Hamas official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was born in 1970, was killed in the attack. Hamas Gaza spokesperson Hazem Qassem later said in a video statement published on Facebook that...

China and the United States have agreed to establish trade and investment councils, committing in principle to match each other’s tariff cuts on a reciprocal basis. “The two sides will use the Trade Council as a forum to discuss issues such as tariff reductions on specific products,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday, without providing further details. The world’s two largest economies also made progress on agricultural trade and aircraft, the statement added. The two...

China’s purchase of “double-digit billions” in American agricultural products touted by US officials following President Donald Trump’s state visit to Beijing appears to be a marginal addition after factoring in previous commitments, analysts said, adding that new orders could reduce the country’s reliance on Brazil for soybeans and other items. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on ‌Friday that he expects to see China buy a 10-figure sum in agricultural products annually over the next...

At least 80 deaths have been reported in Congo’s new Ebola disease outbreak in the eastern Ituri province, authorities said, as health workers raced to intensify screening and contact tracing to contain the disease on Saturday. Officials first announced the outbreak on Friday, with 65 deaths and 246 suspected cases. In Ituri’s capital, Bunia, locals recounted their fears amid constant burials. “Every day, people are dying … and this has been going on for about a week. In a single day, we bury...

The former Secretary of Public Security for Mexico’s Sinaloa state appeared in a US court on Friday, days after his arrest in Arizona on charges he and other officials took bribes to help the Sinaloa Cartel smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the US. Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, 66, was not required to enter a plea during his initial appearance in federal court in Manhattan. He was ordered jailed but could request bail at a later date. He is due back in court on June 1. A message seeking comment...

Two major protests are taking place on Saturday in London, with the Metropolitan Police warning it may be one of its busiest days in recent years. Tens of thousands of people are expected to march for Unite the Kingdom, an event arranged by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, and the annual pro-Palestine Nakba Day march. London’s Metropolitan Police is drafting more than 4,000 officers to police the two events, a scale of operation it said was “unprecedented...

US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of Islamic State in Nigeria in a mission carried out on Friday, US President Donald Trump said. Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of Isis globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.” Al-Mainuki was viewed as a key figure in IS...

Czech police have arrested a man suspected of stealing an almost 800-year-old religious relic from a Catholic church and encasing it in concrete. According to a police spokeswoman on Friday, the suspect admitted taking the skull, which is revered by believers as a relic of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk, from the Church of St Lawrence in the northern Czech town of Jablonne v Podjestedi on Tuesday. Investigators used special equipment to confirm the skull was hidden inside a solid concrete block...

Clavicular, the “looksmaxxing” influencer and streamer whose real name is Braden Eric Peters, has reached a resolution in the misdemeanour case filed after a video posted online apparently showed him repeatedly shooting an alligator while on an airboat in the US Everglades. On March 26 in the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, Peters was among a group of men on an airboat that had stopped near an alligator that did not appear to be moving, according to videos posted on...

Google’s YouTube and Snap reached agreements to settle the first lawsuit headed to trial over claims that addiction to top social media platforms has disrupted learning and pushed public schools to spend massive sums fighting a mental health crisis, according to court filings. TikTok and Meta Platforms were also sued by the rural Kentucky school district that brought the case, which is set to go to trial on June 12 in federal court in Oakland, California. The trial will serve as a test case for...

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the US-Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In the latest instalment of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we explore the massive upswing in capital expenditures across Asia that is driving a broad shift in economic power. When US President Donald Trump made his...

Hollywood star John Travolta was given a surprise lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival Friday as he premiered the first movie he has ever directed. The man who became an icon overnight with Saturday Night Fever was visibly moved as he accepted the honorary Palme d’Or before the screening of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, which is based on a book about his first experience in an airliner. “I just can’t believe it. This is beyond the Oscar, really,” he said as he accepted the...

What comes to mind when you think of China, Japan and South Korea? This was a question posed in a second-year sociology seminar during my time at Bristol, and it has stayed with me ever since. We were split into three groups and given 10 minutes to create posters capturing our immediate associations. Japan came first. Sketches of anime, sushi platters and temples appeared. My classmates spoke with enthusiasm, drawing on travel memories or aspirations to visit. A country that, less than a century...

Prime Minister Mark Carney and the leader of Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province took a major step on Friday towards building an oil pipeline that could substantially increase crude exports to Asia. Expanding overseas energy exports has emerged as a key part of Carney’s strategy to reduce Canada’s economic reliance on the US, but plans for a new pipeline are facing stiff resistance over environmental concerns. Alberta’s conservative Premier Danielle Smith was a relentless critic of Carney’s...

Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire and hold new talks on a political settlement, the US announced on Friday, even as Israel carried out new strikes that it insists are not subject to the truce. Israel has been pounding Lebanon and invaded its south in response to fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia movement that is not part of the ceasefire diplomacy. Envoys from Israel and Lebanon’s government, which has struggled to restrain Hezbollah, met for two days in Washington and...

Harvey Weinstein’s third trial in New York over allegations he used his Hollywood clout to prey upon and sexually abuse women ended ‌in a mistrial on Friday, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on a charge he raped the aspiring actress Jessica Mann. Weinstein, 74, was a top film producer until sexual misconduct allegations led to his downfall and fuelled a wider social movement that encouraged women to come forward with accounts of sexual abuse by ⁠powerful men. The case, brought by...

Peru’s leftist ⁠presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez will face ⁠Keiko Fujimori in the June run-off after narrowly securing second place in April’s first-round vote, official results showed Friday, with 100 per cent of votes tallied. The month-long count led to allegations of fraud in ‌the politically turbulent South American nation, notably from right-wing candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who narrowly trailed Sanchez for much of the counting process. Fujimori, the daughter of late former...

Blink and you might miss the few stone walls that are all that is left of the village that Yusuf Abu Hamam’s family was forced to flee when he was an infant in 1948. The village, al-Joura, was demolished by the Israeli military at the time. It has since vanished under neighbourhoods of the southern Israeli city of Ashqelon and the grounds of a national park. The neighbourhood where Abu Hamam’s family ended up, and where he spent most of his life, now lies also largely in ruins. Buildings in the...

Thirty-four European states plus Australia, Costa Rica and the EU said on Friday they would join a future special tribunal for Ukraine to prosecute Russia over its invasion of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an accord with the Council of Europe last year to create a legal body to prosecute the “crime of aggression” in the invasion Russia launched in February 2022. The Council of Ministers, comprising foreign ministers from the organisation’s 46-member states, in a...

Fans of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace all have their own reasons for loving the epic novel. Some read it as a story of personal growth, reflected in Prince Andrei’s spiritual quest. Others favour its portrayal of the Russian aristocracy in the early 19th century. As for myself, the novel punctured the myth of the military genius – not just Napoleon’s. The book’s final section on Tolstoy’s philosophy of history presented the most significant challenge to G.W.F. Hegel – specifically regarding French...

Greenlandic officials worry about the direction of the negotiations aimed at defusing President Trump’s threats to seize their island. But they have little leverage.

The Brookings Institution suggests that federal statistics are an undercount because immigrant parents are not being asked about or not disclosing their American children.

The humanitarian relief system, decimated by cuts, faces a grave challenge as the Middle East war causes soaring costs for food, fuel and fertilizer.

The composer Cinco Paul discusses the clever references to classic musicals everywhere you look (and hear) in his new Broadway show.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency after about 80 people died from the virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A small number of U.S. citizens have been directly affected by the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the C.D.C. said on Sunday.

The latest war in the Middle East has created new economic opportunities for Syria thanks to its geography.

Top policymakers were expected to discuss rising energy prices and sanctions policy at a critical summit in Paris this week.

Stocks and bonds wavered after President Trump issued a new warning to Iran.

New research sheds light on how mediocre employees help would-be authoritarians maintain power.

A firebrand governor aims to transform his region into a laboratory for the Kremlin’s reactionary ideals.

Inside a collaboration to bring artificial intelligence into the classroom.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to announce that the store will open in the Hunts Point neighborhood next year. Some merchants are pushing back.

With a battery of modern technology at their fingertips, meteorologists often turn first to an old-fashioned tracking technique.

Some of the most severe weather in days could hit Monday afternoon, meteorologists said. Tornadoes and large hail are possible.

These G.O.P. crusaders might be the perfect people to fight sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill.

We look at what happens when countries say they’re going to stop shooting at each other.

The dream of clean hydrogen has tantalized energy experts for years, but producing it has been tough. Many start-ups think the answer could lie beneath our feet.

Kylian Mbappé, the captain of France’s national team, set off a storm a month before the World Cup by suggesting that the National Rally party was a threat to France.

The deal combining the utility companies in Florida and Virginia comes as demand for power is soaring, largely because of the rapid growth of A.I. data centers.

Doctors and patients complain that the controversial practice of prior authorization for treatment and procedures is still widespread.